Let The Games Begin
by Yaya The Elf
Summary: One year after the Dark Days, the Capitol promises a special reminder of why they must never be repeated, and 13-year-old Ponyo Yomato dreads it. Now the day has come, and Ponyo realizes that it's not taxes or more oppression, it's the Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

When I turn on the TV, all they show is more replays of the bombings.

It's the same one they show all the time; when the bombs hit the Justice Building of District 13, and the people running around, trying to escape.

But no one did.

It happened about a year ago… the bombings. I remember it very well. It was the ending of what most of us called "The Dark Days", when we districts rebelled against our harsh dictator, President Cable, ruler of Panem and leader of the Capitol. We were tired of living under the extremely strict rules that were there to keep us in line, so we wouldn't create another huge war and destroy three quarters of the world's population (although, I have heard a few rumors being passed by Jabberjay's a few years ago that Global Warming and the flooding helped). So we, the 13 districts of what was called North America long ago, came together and tried defeating Cable.

We lost.

I don't understand… why we lost. I remember the war very clearly, it had been happening since I was three years old. 13 huge districts against a teeny tiny city. But you should never under estimate the power of a nuclear bomb.

They attacked each district. I remember having to hide in the basement for a long time with my mother and little sister, Willow. Father was out fighting… and next thing I knew, the Capitol people had control over us, had killed my father and were bombing 13.

President Cable had announced over the TV to what was left of us that each year we would have a reminder to _never_ doubt the Capitol's power. He had said it would begin in one year.

And now it's a year later, and now we're going to have a reminder.

_I wonder what that could be, _I ask myself.

I sigh and turn off the old box as it changes to a woman saying to "stay tuned tomorrow and see the big, big surprise that Cable has for us!".

I sink back into the old patched up couch we have, dreading tomorrow. Willow walks up to me and sinks down next to me.

"What'cha doin'?" she asks casually.

"Sulking," I roll my eyes. "Dreading tomorrow. Nothing much, I guess."

"What's gonna happen tomorrow?" she asks, her big brown eyes curious.

"The president has a little surprise for us," I say darkly, staring at the black screen of the TV. "Must be big. We don't even have to work today."

"Is that good?" Willow asks. "The surprise?"

"I wish," I whisper.

Sometimes I wish I was as innocent and ignorant as Willow. She's only four years old, and doesn't know much about the world. She was so small when the Dark Days ended… only three. I bet she doesn't even remember them that well. She's at that age where she believes that everyone is good. The age that most people tend to grow out of, with only a lucky few keeping that trait.

Was I like that when I was little? That innocent? Did I look like her? As her sister, I share most of my traits with her, like the big brown eyes, thick eyelashes and tan skin, but even those seem different. Her eyes are sparkly, full of innocence, while mine are too old, having seen horror at an early age that left them scarred. Her skin is soft and clean, with mine dirty, and sort of hairy, from working hard all day. Maybe her skin will look like mine next year, since each child is required to work at age five, although the hair, I'm not sure. Since I am 13 and have already started puberty, I have leg hair, pubic hair, underarm hair, and even a tiny bit of peach fuzz above my upper lip. But what about the eyes? She experienced horror even earlier than I. Maybe she's one of the lucky ones.

Suddenly, I feel very tired. The burden of watching so much horror so young tires me; the bombing tires me, what tomorrow will bring tires me.

I get up and walk to my bed, not caring that I will miss dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer:_

_I do not own the Hunger Games or any of it's original characters.  
_

_Hehe... forgot to put it down on the last chapter...  
_

_ANYWAY! i know that my last chapter wasn't that exciting... it was more of an introduction so you know what's going on. and i know that i made Ponyo's family almost EXACTLY like Katniss's (that was not intentional).  
_

_so... is this chapter going to be better than the first one? MAYBE! this story goes at the same pace as the original Hunger Games, so it may be a while until you see any bloodshed.  
_

_anyway... ENJOY! :)  
_

Chapter Two

"Ponyo! Mama says you gotta eat something!"

I groan.

"What time is it?" I yawn, sitting up on my bed.

"Eating time!" Willow throws up her hands.

I laugh, and then say, "No… I mean the _actual_ time."

"Uh, I dunno," she shrugs. "Like, 9 o'clock. They 'bout to announce what the surprise is."

The dread that sleep buried has risen again. I roll my eyes and hop off my bed in the room Willow and Mother also share. Willow climbs off, too, and we both walk into the TV room, which is also our dining room and kitchen (hey, poor district, what can I say?).

Mother is at the rickety old stove, cooking eggs. Where did we get those? They must have cost us a fortune; those smell like the ones Peacekeepers eat outside in the wee hours of the morning while the rest of us work our butt cheeks off.

"Turn on the TV," she orders, not looking up.

I nod, and click the button on the old box that turns it on. We don't have to flip stations like people did long ago, there's only one channel. You watch whatever they want you to watch.

I sink back on the old couch next to Willow, watching a Capitol woman do a report on District 13, with her in a gas mask and yellow suit. I see a building… the Justice Building, I think. Or what's left. Everything is smoking. Why would it be smoking? There's no way a fire could go on for a whole year. In the corner, I see a mockingjay fly past. Now that doesn't surprise me. They can live in almost any condition, and those things reproduce like weeds.

The eggs are done, and Mother sits down next to us, handing each of us a fork and a plate full of eggs.

"…and District 13, as you can see," the Capitol woman says. "Is still completely in ruins."

"Naw," I say sarcastically, getting a giggle from Willow and Mother.

It goes back to a Capitol man at a desk, the anchorman, who says, "Thank you, Elaine. Now, we will go live to President Cable making a speech on that little reminder each of us every year will get."

"Uh oh," Mother says. I agree. This is very uh oh.

It goes to our dictator, standing on a stage with banners all around him. His daughter, Minnie Cable, is standing next to her husband, Coyne Snow. What a dumb name. They have a child, about five or six standing near them, holding a box and looking very grouchy. What's his name? Ah, I remember. Coriolanus Snow. Poor kid. He's got a stupider name than his dad. No wonder he looks so grouchy.

The anthem plays. We wait for a minute, then it stops and the spotlight is on Cable.

"As I am sure you all remember," Cable proudly says in that booming voice of his. "There was an uprising of the districts against our very proud Capitol, which rules this country of Panem. The districts did not want to follow the strict rules we, the Capitol, were forced to hold every since that terrible war that destroyed every country in the world, but this one. And ever since that horrible rebellion, I have wanted each and everyone of you to remember to _never _doubt the authority and power of the Capitol."

"Here it comes…" I whisper.

"And here is the reminder, in which will begin tomorrow," he says, smiling. Not a happy one, all you can see is teeth, nothing else. "Coriolanus please come here and hand me the box of which the reminder is held."

"A box?" Mother asks herself, as Coriolanus walks up to Cable, handing him the box.

"Thank you," Cable smiles at the young boy, who simply walks away to his parents.

Willow, Mother and I are on our the edge of our seat, as I'm sure the rest of the world is, too. We watch as Cable slowly opens the small box, and takes out a small, white piece of paper. Nothing flashy, it could quite possibly be only an index card.

"And here," Cable finally says. "Is the reminder. It says, 'In order to prevent another uprising, and to remind the remaining districts of our power, each year we will have two people from each district, one young man and one young woman, from ages 12 to 18, have to come to the Capitol to prepare to fight to the death in an arena on live TV. And there can be only one winner."

_What?_

"It will start tomorrow," he announces. "The children will be chosen, a Reaping, if you will. See you soon."

And then he walks off stage.

Willow gets up and turns off the TV.

I let the words sink in.

From ages 12… to 18… children must fight to the death on live TV. Only one can win.

12 to 18?

I suddenly realize that I have a chance that I might not be alive in a few days.

_oh, no! The Hunger Games? that's terrible! WELL GET USED TO IT, DISTRICTS! YO GONNA BE DOING THIS FOR 74 MORE YEARS  
_

_uhh... anyway... yea. i hope you enjoyed! i promise it'll get MUCH or at least a LITTLE bit better in the next chapter!  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_helloooo people! it's time for another chapter! YEY!_

_not much action in this one, either... but i hope you still like this one anyway!  
_

_ENJOY!  
_

Chapter Three

I'm so over racked with worry that I cannot sleep, so I stay up all night, pondering my fate.

When I'm worried, I need to move around, like if I walk enough I'll walk away far enough from my troubles. So, all night I walk around the TV room/kitchen. I walk around the TV, past the concrete counter we eat dinner on, even jumping over the couch. I turn on the TV; leave it on a few minutes, then off it goes with the click of my hand. I sit down on the couch, chew on my bottom lip and swing my legs, then when I can't take it any longer I get up and run around the couch a few times. But after a while, I get bored, and I start to get hungry from moving so much, so I hop (literally) over to the kitchen and open the icebox. Then I eat what is eaten cold, and then I heat up food and then eat that too. I grab a leg of chicken, and start eating it. Then I eat the rest of it, too. It keeps going on like that, me walking and jumping and running, then me sitting and eating. But then, I realize I have eaten almost all of the food. In District 11, we don't get much. I decide to stop eating, but it's too late, we only have one chicken and a loaf of bread left. Great.

I plop on the couch and look up at the ceiling. I really wish I could go outside right now. Go into the tree orchard that's full of fruit, and climb up into a tree. Then I could make a nest out of the branches and look up at the night sky. I've been able to make a nest since about a few months ago, when I have to watch the skies to see the mockingjays come in, which will be our signal to go home. I'm the right height and weight to do it. I'm only four foot nine, and weigh 85 pounds. Just little enough to not break the branches, but tough enough to keep them in place. And it would be perfect, too! I could eat all the fruit I want, jump around in the trees, and keep myself busy by making nests.

But our Peacekeepers are strict. No one in the orchards after 9 o'clock, and anyone who does so otherwise is going to find a bullet in their brain.

Suddenly, I hear someone walk up to the door. That scares me, because it's, like, 3 o'clock in the morning. What is someone doing up so early? Well, maybe I should ask that to myself. I wait a few seconds, and then hear the person walk away. I wait a minute, and when I'm sure they're gone, and hop up and open the door. Outside of our little shabby apartment is a basket full of food and a note. Food! Holy moondrop! Now Mother won't get angry with me for pigging out! YES!

I grab the basket and take it inside and shut the door. Then I realize, why would someone leave all of this food outside of our house? Why would they come at this hour, anyway? Then, I remember the note, and open it up.

In fancy script, it says:

**_Dear Mrs. Yomato,_**

**_As you may have heard, the first Reaping for the first Hunger Games is being held this fine day. And as you know, one young woman and young man will represent their district in the Hunger Games. But, since District 11 is, in fact, the largest district, it will be almost impossible to hold every child at the Center Square, where it will be held. So, as a solution, we have chosen some children already to make sure that they will be there at the Square, and their names have been placed in the glass ball that holds their names._**

**_Your daughter, Ponyo Yomato, has been chosen and will have to be in the Center Square and, since she is 13 so she needs to be "caught up", has had her name placed inside the glass ball 2 times. Please except this gift basket as our gratitude for sacrificing your child! Please do not stay away, if you do so we will have no choice but to execute you and your family._**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_Mayor Swift of District 11_**

Well, that is understandable. Our district is HUGE, and there would be no way to hold every child from age 12 to 18 there.

Suddenly, I realize something.

'Your daughter, Ponyo Yomato, has been chosen'.

Worry washes over me, and I fry up the chicken from the icebox and try to eat my worries away.

_...yup! that's it for this chapter... but i PROMISE that it'll start getting better (with longer chapters, too!)_

_and WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER? (me) NOT YOU, THOUGH! the wonder will eat away at you until the next chapter is posted... until you are driven MAD with questions, like, what the moondrop is going to happen to Ponyo?  
_

_YOU SHALL SEE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!  
_

_i mean, it's not like you have anything better to do (just kidding! :D)  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_NEW CHAPTER! yey! and someone added this story to their favorites... Hungergames1234... luv ya! your awesome! :D_

_anyway... there WILL be some action-ish intense-ness stuff in this chapter... so be ready to grab a new pair of pants in case you may soil them (please don't...)  
_

_ENJOY! :)  
_

Chapter Four

When I show Mother the note, she knows that we have no choice but to get ready for the very first Reaping.

At first, she is angry that I ate all the food from our icebox, but when she sees the basket, she becomes elated. So, she starts cooking some of that yummy bacon they put in there, with Willow helping her.

"Ponyo," Mother says.

"Yea?" I ask.

"Please go put something nice on," she says, looking at the sizzling bacon on a stained old pot. "Mayor Swift on the TV said that the Reaping is… a _ceremony… _in which you should put on your nicest clothes."

"Ok," I respond while walking into the bedroom.

I open up the closet we all share, and go to the right side of it, where my clothes are hung. Overalls? Nope. Patched up pants? Uh uh. School uniform? Maybe, they're nice enough, being a blue tee shirt and navy blue skirt. Kind of boring, though. Work clothes? Not a chance. I mean, ripped up leggings and a stained white tee shirt? Forget it. I'd be a laughing stock.

I decide to use my school uniform, but something catches my eye… hel-lo. What's this? In the way back I see a nice and clean button down white shirt. I remember that one. Was too big for me when I first bought it. But I bet it's perfect now!

I grab an undershirt and put that on, then button up the nice white shirt. I was right: it fits perfectly. Then I put on my school skirt and the black flats that I also wear for school. They cost a fortune, about 2o dollars, but it was worth it, they're the most comfortable shoes I own.

I grab the comb from the nightstand (a wood box) and brush my short and uneven hair. When it looks decent, I put a gold clip (made of plastic) in my hair to keep it out of my face. Then I look in the cracked mirror, and I must say, I look pretty nice.

I walk into the kitchen and Mother and Willow are finished with the bacon. They take some of the bacon and eat it on the couch, not saying anything or even turn on the TV, while I pace around the couch and chew on my cud.

Then, when we finish, we know it's time to go, so Mother and Willow dress and then we leave, still not saying anything.

When we get to the square, hundreds of people are there, waiting to see who will become tribute. Some people are looking outside their windows. I can see the huge barbed walls that go all around our district to keep us inside, and the watch towers that are turned on at night with those lights that face everywhere, like an old fashioned Light House. Peacekeepers are all around, holding guns, ready to shoot in case chaos strikes.

I can see my friend Friday Turner, with brown skin, black hair and strangely blue eyes, walk up to me, with her father right behind her. I remember her mom; she died two years back during the war.

"You were chosen?" I ask her, as Mother and Mr. Turner whisper as well.

"Yes," she says, her blue eyes looking at me with fear. "I see you were as well."

"I cannot believe this…" she whispers. "I mean… we're just kids! It's not our fault our parents rebelled…"

"It's all about control," I remind her. "That's-" Suddenly I stop. I'm aware of a Peacekeeper looking at us. Friday notices, too, and says a bit louder, "Well, we can't help it. Parents have a tendency to want to 'control us'."

"I guess it's just because they care about us," I pretend agree.

The Peacekeeper looks satisfied, and looks away.

Friday and I don't even sigh with relief; if we do it'll make us look suspicious. Then, I feel angry, I can't even have a conversation with my friend without having a risk of being killed, but I know better than to say anything.

On the stage, a woman with bright green hair and purple lipstick gets on a microphone. Is she from the Capitol? Have the people from the Capitol always been into strange fashions like that before? Or is it just her? Now I realize that I haven't had any information about the outside world since the war. Even TV is modified; the news people from the Capitol only talk about bombings and wear normal suits and ties. Although I do admit, the ties are kind of bright and their faces look too perfect, as if they had a facelift, so perhaps it isn't in my head.

Anyway, the green haired woman gets on mike and says, "Hullo, everyone, and I want to wish everyone a happy Hunger Games!"

She has that strange Capitol accent, with the clipped vowels and hard Ts and Ss, and the voice goes up at the end like she's asking a question. But even with her goofy, clichéd voice, I feel a stab of hatred against her. I could have to kill another child my age on live TV. I could have to watch my friend Friday die a terrible, bloody death. What on earth could be happy about that?

"My name is Bonita Muy, and I am the Capitol escort for this lovely district," she says. "And I am also the lucky one to choose the two young adults that have the honor of representing their district in the first ever Hunger Games!"

Well, when you put it like that, this seems like a happy-happy joy-joy holiday.

But it's not.

"And here," says she. "Is the wonderful mentor for District 11, Hermes Chao, who will help our tributes during their time in the games."

She gestures to who apparently is Hermes Chao, a 4o-year-old man with a salt and pepper beard (excuse that cliché, please). When the spotlight is on him, he throws up a peace sign, and I stifle an urge to laugh at that old fashioned gesture.

"And now," says Bonita Muy. "I shall choose the tributes." She smiles, but it's too happy, almost a bit demented. "Ladies first."

Bonita Muy walks over to the glass ball that must hold the girl's names.

Friday grabs my left hand, repeatily whispering, "Please don't be me", and Willow grabs my right, each needing support during this time, for after this moment, nothing will ever be the same again. Ever.

Bonita reaches into the glass ball.

I hear Willow whimper, and hold on tighter to my hand.

Bonita grabs a small, folded piece of paper.

"Please don't be me," whispers Friday, eyes closed.

The green haired woman holds up the paper and opens it.

A tear rolls down from Willow's eye.

_"Please don't be me."_

After this moment, nothing will ever be the same again.

"Ponyo Yomato!" Bonita proudly reads.

_Ever._

_OH NO! PONYO'S BEEN CHOSEN AS TRIBUTE? _**WHO WOULD'VE EXPECTED THAT? **_oh yea. every hunger games fan who ever lived.  
_

_anyway, that's it for today! (readers sob) i know, i know! but don't worry! i'll try to update soon... maybe tomorrow or so.  
_

_hope you enjoy! soon... the games will BEGIN! XD  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The spotlight is on me now. People around us know me, and look right at me. Then, they move to the side, and others follow, making a pathway to the stage.

I know I have no choice but to start walking to the stage, so I do. But as I start, I hear, Mother and Mr. Turner gasp, Friday let go of my hand and shakily say, "No! I take it back! Let it be me!", and I feel Willow grab my arm and start screaming and crying.

I can't look at her, I really don't want to see the horror on her innocent little face, so I try to move my hand away from her clutch, but she holds on tight with an iron glove, and keeps sobbing and asking for her big sister Ponyo to not leave her. Then I hear Mother grab Willow and pick her up, forcing her to relieve her grasp, so I start walking to the stage. But a reflex makes me look back at them, and I see Friday and Mother crying and Mr. Turner looking shocked. But the worst is seeing the insane hurt across Willow's beautiful little face, with the tears raining down and her screaming, "No, don't leave me!", so I quickly look away.

I walk on stage, and stand next to Bonita Muy, who says hello, and I look at the huge crowd, and I feel awkward, with my family and friends in hysteria, and it all being caught on tape by the nearby cameramen. Not sure of what to do or say, I shakily ask, "S-so, Bonita, h-how's the weather been in the C-capitol?"

She and Hermes laugh at my "joke", and I see a few Peacekeepers try to stifle a laugh as well. But no District 11 citizen thinks it's funny, but I see I've managed to calm Willow down. Thank goodness.

"Alright," says Bonita. "And now for the boys."

She walks over to the boys' glass dome, picks a folded piece of paper, and reads, "Abu Currey."

It's a boy in the front of the crowd, but calling him a boy may be a bit too far fetched. He's _enormous. _Built like an ox, about 6 feet tall, brown eyes, black hair, and that type of skin color that's such a dark shade of brown that it looks almost black. He probably just made the age mark, looking 18 years old.

He walks onto stage and stands next to me, and I feel like an ant next to the Justice Building. I look up at him, and he's so high it hurts and strains my neck just to see his face.

"Hi," I squeak, which gets a few laughs from some people.

"And now!" Bonita happily says. "We shall take our wonderful tributes to the Justice Building, where they will say goodbye to their loved ones and will be shipped off to the Capitol."

Bonita curtsies, and Abu and Hermes bow, so I do so as well, but when I get up again, I realize I'm a girl, so I quickly curtsy, making some people laugh.

Abu and I are taken to the Justice Building, and we are seated separately in two extremely fancy rooms. I'm on a red velvet chair, with a gold and glass coffee table in front of me. The rugs have all sorts of designs on them, and are blood red and gold. The walls have mirrors and little objects on them, and there are even potted plants! Holy moondrop! This is the most wonderful room I have ever seen!

As I wait, I swing my legs back and forth, getting the velvet dirty, but who cares? If they care _afford _velvet, then they can certainly afford to clean it. My only question is, if District 11 can afford velvets and gold coffee tables and potted plants, then why can't we use that to buy food and clothes for the citizens, or use it to make better living conditions?

Mother and Willow walk into the room, and once they see me, Willow runs straight to me and starts crying.

I hold her, and let her cry her little self-out, but I don't say anything like, "Don't worry" or "It's gonna be okay". She's old enough to detect a lie.

When she stops crying, she looks up at me and says, "You gotta promise."  
"What?" I ask.

"To win," she explains. "You gotta win and come back! Promise."

"Kay," I say. "I promise." What she doesn't know is that I'm crossing my fingers behind my back, not because I have a death wish, but because I never promise anything I know I cannot help.

She gets off my lap, and I stand up and give Mother a hug. I don't really know what to say to her, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't either, so I just say, "Try not to eat that gift basket too quickly."

But she's not in the mood for jokes, which is, in fact, understandable, so she just doesn't say anything, she just hugs me. When we finally let go, she grabs onto Willow's hand and walks her away from me, not saying anything. But that's okay.

Silence can be easier than words.

Then Friday comes in with her dad, and the first thing she says to me is, "I take it back. I want it to be me."

I chuckle at that, but she says, "I really do! It's not fair. You had two slips of paper out of… _a lot _of slips of paper. That wasn't fair!"

"Well," I say. "The odds were definitely _not _in my favor."

Mr. Turner makes a face. "Where'd you hear that?" he asks. "It sounds like a book quote."

"Just made it up," I shrug my shoulders. Then I smile. "Huh. Should probably say that more often."

But they don't smile back, they just hug me and say goodbye. Then a few other families I know say goodbye, and once it's over, Bonita comes in and gets me.

As we walk over to the train, I see more cameramen capturing my every move. Are they going to follow me around _all the time?_

Abu comes up as well, looking slightly bored. Why would he be like that? Maybe I should be asking that myself. I don't really feel sad… like this is more of a bad dream and I'm waiting for myself to wake up.

When we board the train, the first thing we do is go to the dining car for breakfast and re-watch the tapes of the tributes being chosen. I only remember a few, like the tributes from District 1 having extremely strange and over the top names (was it always like that?), a fifteen-year-old girl with red hair from District 4, a boy who's name I catch is Luiz from District 7, and a 16-year-old boy with grey eyes, dark hair and olive skin from District 12. When I see Abu and me onscreen, we both, in fact, look very serious, even a little bored. Especially me, when Willow is grabbing onto my arm in hysteria, I look mature and wise beyond my years. And, whoa! Was my hair that messy? How embarrassing.

"Good job, you two," Hermes says.

"For what?" I say.

"You guys weren't hysterical or crying," he explains. "Like that one girl from District 6 for example. That shows that you're able to cope, and that's good for when you're in the arena. It'll get you sponsors."

"Sponsors?" Abu wonders. Then I realize that's the first thing I've ever heard him say.

"When people place in money," explains Bonita. "While you're in the arena, so you can get things you need, which will show up by a small, white parachute."

"Like if the arena's a desert," offers Hermes. "And you need water, a gallon of water could show up so you won't die."

"Tributes usually get sponsors and gifts if the audience likes them," says Bonita. "People tend to like pretty people, or tough people. You guys aren't pretty, but I think that toughness you showed will help you."

"Well, thank you," I say. "I think."

Hermes laughs. "That humor of yours will also help," he says. "Gives the audience a good show."

Then a rage forms inside me.

"A _good show?" _I demand. "What do you mean, _good show?"_

"Well…" starts Bonita.

"Do the Capitol people _want to see us killed?"_

"The Capitol people can be… a bit… _cruel… _and…"

"Stupid?" offers Abu.

"Sort of," shrugs Hermes.

"Ugh," I mumble. "This crappin' sucks."

But my rage fades away when an attendant comes over to us and hands us our plates for breakfast.

"Ho-lee moondrop…" I gasp.

The spotlight is definitely on the food now! At least from Abu and me. It's probably the biggest meal I've ever seen in my life. On our plates are scrambled eggs with cheese melted all over them, gooey waffles with surap drizzled all over them and a piece of butter on top. We have crispy bacon (looking far better than the ones I ate at District 11), rolls that have butter _inside them _when I open them to cool them off, and a big ol' glass of lemonade on the side!

Abu and I start eating immediately after I say "drop" in moondrop. The waffles are _amazing, _the bacon is all… "bacon-y" (how else do you describe such perfection?) and the cheese on the eggs is a very nice touch. Once I wolf down all of that, I chug my lemonade, which cools my blistered tongue because that food was pretty hot, and then I grab my roll and attack it. But once I have one bite of roll left, I see that Hermes and Bonita have only finished their eggs, and are staring at Abu and me.

"Whoa…" breathes Hermes.

"How repulsive," Bonita rolls her eyes.

I stick out my tongue, and the attendant comes back.

"Can I get you anything else?" he asks.

"Hey, buddy!" I say. "I'm gonna need a WHOLE LOT more of these!" I pick up Bonita's roll, showing him what I mean.

"Yes, ma'am," he says, nodding. "Anything else for the others?"

"No, thank you," Bonita says coolly, but is eyeballing me evilly.

The attendant nods his head, and walks away briskly, and about a minute or so later he brings me a basket full of those fine rolls.

"Mmm…" I say. "You Capitol folk may be stupid, but you make GOOD food…"

"Truest thing I've ever heard," agrees Abu.

I laugh while I finish the rolls.

_...so basically in this chapter Ponyo goes onto a train and eats some food. woohoo! SO EXCITING! (not)_

_but they WILL head into the capitol in the next chapter! WOO HOO! GO CAPITOL!  
_

_wait... no! god, jeez, i'm ALWAYS mixing that up... boo you, capitol! (that's better)  
_

_anyway, i hope you're all liking the story so far... if you are, yey! if not... ok! i see how it is! FORGET YOU! (just kidding)  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_another person added this to their favorites! NavyJ! woohoo! (i__'m popular B-D)  
_

_btw, NavyJ, the main character's name is Ponyo Yomato, who is 13-years-old and lives in District 11. sorry if that wasn't made clear in the first few chapters, i'm pretty sure it's probably clear now but i just added this just in case it wasn't.  
_

_so, yea people, if you have any questions you can ask in your review or something... i'll try to respond as best as i can! if i don't, then you probably asked a question in which the answer contains spoilers, and where's the fun in that?  
_

_anyway... enjoy chapter six! (it's longer than the others! woopee!)  
_

Chapter Six

The rest of the day basically went like this: eat, drink, facts and advice about the games, bathroom breaks, eat more, drink more.

After a wonderful dinner, I go to my room and get ready for bed. The room was incredibly fancy, but as soon as I hit the bed, it didn't matter, because I finally realized that I'm probably never going to see my family and friends again.

Well, if I'm going to cry, I probably should I this over with and do it now. Like Bonita and Hermes said, crying doesn't go well with sponsors, and I don't want to start sobbing when I'm on camera. How embarrassing would that be?

So I let the tears roll out, one by one, but I keep my mouth shut and don't make a sound. Having Bonita or Hermes or even Abu comfort me would be more embarrassing than crying on live TV in front of the whole world.

When I wake up, my pillow is wet, and it's the same over and over, but finally, after two days, we arrive at the Capitol, where I must meet my Prep Team and Stylist.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

"Daaahhh! I think you pulled some skin!"

"Sorry," says Cassandra, holding up a piece of wax paper, covered in what once was my upper lip peach fuzz.

I rub the top of my lip, which stings, but now feels very smooth. I'm in a room, where I've met my Prep Team: Cassandra, Tay-Tay and Magnolia, who all have the weirdest senses of style, like Tay-Tay having blue hair, Cassandra and the purple flower tattoos on her temples and Magnolia even having cat whiskers (what?). They've been ripping hair off my body, like my leg hair, armpit hair, peach fuzz, and even the small hairs on my torso, arms, and near my eyebrows. I have been wearing nothing but a paper robe, and even with that I have to take it off sometimes. I've never felt so humiliated in my life. It could be worse; they could've been men instead.

"We're just trying to make you look pretty!" Tay-Tay says, shrugging innocently.

"Well, I seriously doubt I'll be naked in the arena," I roll my eyes. Then I get scared. "Right?"

"Oh, don't worry," laughs Cassandra. "That won't happen. Now, we just have to finish that left eyebrow of yours…"

She puts some wax paper near my left eyebrow, yanks it ("Owww!"), and all three women smile.

"Yey!" Magnolia claps her hands. "Now you look like a human being!"

That makes me mad. "I'm pretty sure humans don't have whiskers, Magnolia," I spit at her.

"Oh, but it's an _accessory," _Magnolia says, still smiling. She can't even see the anger displayed on my face! Abu was right; Capitol people are idiots.

"Never mind human features!" rolls Tay-Tay's eyes, smiling, too (wipe that grin off your face). "Time for you to meet your Stylist!"

Right on cue, a woman in her 3o's walks in, with dark red hair and dark green eyes. Her olive colored skin is free of tattoos (or whiskers), and her makeup isn't as bad as some of the Capitol's people, though I do think she went a bit over board on the eyeliner and lipstick. She seems like a naturally happy person, because as soon as she sees me, her eyes light up and she smiles. The only way I can describe her happiness is… motherly.

"Oh!" she gasps. "What a pretty little girl!"

The compliment makes me feel happy, but at the same time, I get a little peeved off at the "little girl" remark. I don't know, just one of those things adults call: "a kid thing", I guess.

"My name is Penny," she smiles. "And…" she frowns. "What was your name again?"

"Ponyo Yomato," I respond shyly. Normally, I am not shy at all, but considering this woman is meeting me while I'm butt cheek naked with only a small, bagging paper robe barely covering me, I can't really help it.

"Ponyo? What a pretty name," she smiles. "Now, let's see what I can do."

She starts walking around me, slowly, eyeballing every naked part of me. If it was someone else doing that, I probably would've tried to cover myself up, and say "Hey, why don't'cha take a picture?", but with her, I'm only slightly embarrassed.

After a minute or so, Magnolia asks her, "Well?"

"The makeup will be no problem at all," she says. "Her skin, besides those small scars, is flawless, and she has gorgeous eyelashes." Penny smiles at me. Eyelashes? Well, I admit, they are naturally thick, but I always thought of them as strange, not… _gorgeous._

"What have you and Sae made up for the costumes?" asks Tay-Tay.

"Costumes?" I ask.

"Yes," nods Penny. "In about 3o minutes, each district tribute will parade in the Capitol in chariots. And the tributes will dress up in a way that has to do with whatever their district produces, like coal for District 12, or lumber for District 7."

"So someone from District 12 would be, like, in a coal miner outfit?" I'm starting to grasp the subject.

"Yes," nods Cassandra.

"But I'm 11," I say, confused. "How will I dress up as agriculture?"

"That's what we asked," Penny responds. "So I thought, what do people think of when someone says, 'agriculture'?"

_Farmers, _I think, which is technically what I am. So, I'll basically be wearing some dirty pants and a beat up tee shirt? Uh oh. Will this be helping us get sponsors? If that's the case, then Abu and I will have none.

"Farmers," Penny almost reads my thoughts. "But, overalls and straw hats? This is supposed to make an impression, and that would certainly not do. But what do farmers do? They grow food, of course!"

Suddenly, I imagine a bunch of terrible ideas for costumes, like a scarecrow, or maybe even us just dressed up as two giant cobs of corn.

"But, what would that be?" Penny continues. "A bowl of apples? Oh, no, we couldn't do that. Too large, too ugly. But then I thought, 'well, food is nature, isn't it?' And then I remembered a story my grandmother used to tell me, of these small people creatures with wings called _fairies, _and how they created houses out of food and nature, and would even sometimes help grow the crops!"

"They're going to be _fairies?" _Magnolia is almost as confused as I am.

"Yes!" claps Penny. "And now, you must get into costume!"

Then, Penny tells my Prep Team to go get my costume from the closet, and then they dress me, do my makeup and hair, and once they finish, I take a good look at myself in the mirror.

My hair is perfectly straight and shiny, with a crown of gold, orange, and red leaves in my hair. I wear a red dress that looks like it is made out of huge leaves, with small gold flowers accenting certain places. I have no shoes on, but there are gold anklets around my ankles (duh), and gold bracelets on my hands as well. On my back is a pair of huge, orange, yet almost clear, wings.

"You'll be the star of the show!" my Prep Team claps their hands and smile. I start to feel annoyed; all this optimism is chewing on my nerves.

"Come," says Penny. "Time to go to your chariot."

As we walk to a large room full of chariots and costumed tributes, Penny says a few things to me, like if I like my costume, or if the crown in comfortable, and strangely enough, how much I weigh. I say yes to the first two questions, then say, "85 pounds", and she just nods her head, says goodbye, and leaves, leaving me with conflicted emotions about her. She's very kind, no question about that, but strange.

I walk up to 11's chariot, and Abu is standing by, wearing a similar, more flattering, outfit.

"Nice outfits, 11," a voice says behind me.

Abu and I turn around, and we see the red haired girl from District 4, who seems to wearing a fishing getup.

"Much better than ours," she rolls her eyes. "Our district goes fishing, and I thought, 'Oh, fishing equals ocean, right? This is gonna look great!' Nope. Instead, I'm put into a fishermen costume." She sighs, "We had so much potential. But, hey, we got the worst Stylist in the Games, what can we do?"

Her costume _is _pretty bad, not flattering at all. It makes her bright green eyes look a baby barf green, and her red hair and freckles look like sewage. But, I feel a little sorry for her, because that won't help her get any sponsors, and no sponsors equals death, right? So I try to make her feel a bit better by saying, "Oh, it's not that bad."

"Thanks," she manages a smile. "Oh, by the way, my name's Nettle Hathworth."

"I'm Ponyo Yomato," I say.

"Abu Currey," mumbles Abu.

We all notice people starting to get on their chariots, and Nettle says, "Well, see ya, Yomato. I'll try not to blast off your head later."

"You… too…" I say awkwardly, and she walks away.

Abu and I then step on our chariot, and I notice that it seems to be a count down on the set up of chariots, District 1o in front of us, District 12 behind us. I have a feeling Nettle was wrong about having the worst Stylist; I think 1o is dressed up as _cows, _but when I look behind at 12, they look actually pretty good. The two are dressed up as candles, I think, with coal by their feet. They even have flames.

The gates open, and sunlight and thousands of voices greet us. We head out, one by one, with the sound of trumpets in the background. When we get out in the open, thousands of people are on each side of us, clapping and cheering at the ones they like the best. On the Jumbotrons that hang from a few skyscrapers near by project the best ones, like District 12 or District 3, who are wearing glowing body suits. I feel jealous, they're getting all the sponsors, so I try to seem like I don't hate all these people's guts by smiling and waving to the crowd.

Suddenly, I feel a vibrating sensation on my back. Right wear my wings are. I get scared, because what if this thing blew up right now? And I bet you the Capitol people wouldn't even "ooh", they would laugh. I look behind myself, and I see my wings are flapping! Wow! Abu's are, too, as he looks behind. But, mine are flapping faster than his. In fact, they seem to be moving even faster by the second. Awkward stares come from the crowd as we pass by, but those are replaced by excitement as I feel my feet rise off the ground.

I'm flying! The sensation is wonderful; I feel as light and free as a bird… or _fairy. _Now I know why Penny asked me my weight, there would be no way the wings would lift 2oo pound Abu. The spotlight is all mine.

The crowd goes cheers even louder, and I'm on every single one of the Jumbotrons. I'm smiling from ear to ear, for real, now, and I spin in the air, which makes the crowd go nuts. This is wonderful! I wish I was a bird!

Surely it wouldn't do any harm for me to fly around, just a little, so I hover over District 1o's chariot, and spin around above them. The two look awed, and I wave to them, who play along and wave back. Then I go up five feet in the air, and drop down and dart over to 12, wave, and then fly around my chariot. In the air, I smile and wave to everyone in the crowd. Unfortunately, the chariots are brought back inside, but even so, I still hear the crowd chant my name.

_YEYUH! PONYO'S POPULAR!_

_uh... yea... i got nothing else to say, actually.  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	7. Chapter 7

_I WOKE UP IN THE MORNING AND WASN'T KIDNAPPED BY KONY_

_I WAS SO OVERJOYED BY THE FACT THAT I DECIDED TO POST MY NEWEST CHAPTER AS SOON AS I GOT HOME FROM SCHOOL!  
_

_COME ON, Y'ALL! PONYO2012! THE ONLY WAY SHE CAN WIN IS IF WE **MAKE HER FAMOUS!**  
_

_ha, just kidding. another person favorited this! yey! jrush12! THIS IS FOR U, MAN/WOMAN (cuz i honestly don't know what gender you are)  
_

Chapter Seven

After Cable gives a speech outside, welcoming the tributes and how great the chariot ride was, all the tributes wait inside for their Mentors and Prep Team can come and bring them to their quarters.

"Hey, Yomato!" Nettle runs up to me, with a huge smile. "That was great!"

"Thanks," I say, still hovering a foot off the ground, making me able to look her in the eye.

"Yet, not, at the same time," she smirks. "Why'd ya have to steal all the attention? I was having a pretty good thing going on there, smiling and waving, but noooooo, you had to be center stage!"

"Well, it was pretty obvious that it would happen," I roll my eyes and joke. "With my plus three awesomeness and all…"

Nettle laughs, and a voice calls for her.

"Oop, gotta run," she says. "Later, Yomato."

"Bye!" I say, while she walks away. I think I like this Nettle Hathworth chick.

About a minute later, Bonita, Hermes, Penny and another man (who I'm guessing is Sae, Abu's Stylist) walk up to us.

Bonita smiles and says, "That was great! You completely stole the show!"

"Yea, I thought 3 and 12 were gonna get all the glory," Hermes rolls his eyes.

"Never doubt the power of fashion!" Sae says proudly, which makes everyone laugh.

"C'mon, you two," Penny smiles. "You had a long day. Let's get going."

So we all walk (or should in my case, fly) to where to tributes stay, and once I'm in my quarters, I take off my wings and the uncomfortable parts of my costume, and plop into my plush bed and sleep.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

All the good feelings from the parade are replaced with horror from the nightmare that intrudes my brain.

I'm not myself, I am little Willow. I am outside, watching the Hunger Games on the huge Jumbotron that was set up for this purpose only. Everything seems so large, but of course, Willow is only three feet tall. I look up at the huge, clear screen, watching my true self, Ponyo Yomato, and Nettle Hathworth run away from the two tributes from 1o. It's a snowy landscape, and Nettle and I are both bleeding, coating the pearly white snow with crimson. The boy from 1o holds a knife, and 1o both split up, the boy chasing me and the girl chasing Nettle with a spear. The camera stays with Ponyo (AKA me), and the boy is running quiet fast. My wound is slowing me down a lot, but I keep running, until blood loss takes over and I fall down.

Willow-me keeps watching, tears flooding my eyes, and I keep yelling, "Go, Ponyo! Go! You promised! You hafta win!"

But I can't hear Willow-me, and I just lay there in my own cold blood. There's nothing I can do. There's nothing Willow-me can do, either. And I watch my own head get split apart by District 1o's knife.

I wake up yelling, but I instantly put my hand over my mouth. There are tributes here. Can't let them hear my weakness.

I decide to calm myself down my splashing cold water on my face, but when I go inside the bathroom, I go against it. Instead, I take my very first shower. I push a bunch of buttons until the temperature is perfect, then I take off my clothes and bathe. It feels like pouring rain, only much, much warmer. The only way I could get water to this temperature in District 11 would be by boiling it. After probably an hour long shower (well, I'm not paying for it, so why not?), I dry myself and put on some pajamas. I look at the clock, and it's 1 in the morning (whoa, I slept a long time. Oh well, IT'S EATING TIME!).

There's this… thing (I don't know what it's called!) that transports steaming hot food up to my room. All I have to do is talk into the speaker and ask for whatever I want, and in about 3 seconds it comes right up. Maybe these Capitol people aren't so bad! I mean, how could an evil, sadistic and stupid person ever create such a wonderful device? There is no possible way!

I order myself a feast; chicken, tomato soup, beans and rice, pork, and so much more! The groosling is GREAT, so good I eat about 4 whole birds. Hey, don't you point any fingers about my health at me! It's here, it's for free, and I'm STARVED, so why not?

After my oh so delicious feast, I put on my wings and fly around my room for about two hours. The battery, unfortunately, dies, so I'm left with old fashioned running around and jumping. I keep eating and running around until about nine o'clock (yes, I'm a bucket full of energy and hunger), when Bonita waits at the door. It's time for training, she tells me. Which makes sense. Unprepared tributes? Less death equals less fun, or at least for the Capitol.

I get dressed, and she takes Abu and I to breakfast. I don't bother; if I eat too much, I'll get cramps (well, worse than I probably will have since I ate so much). After breakfast, we head to the training center with Bonita and Hermes, and after Abu and I step out of the elevator, we say goodbye to the two adults and head inside.

We are one of the first there, only Districts 4 and 12 are there.

"Sup, Yomato," smirks Nettle, her hair pulled up in a high ponytail, with only a few strands of hair hanging loose. It kind of suits her.

"Sup, Hathworth," I smirk back.

"What happened to your wings? I happened to like them."

"They… uh… _died."_

"Wings can die?"

"Well they stopped working!" I correct myself. "And I can't really train with two gigantic wings on my back."

"That is true," agrees Nettle.

"Oh yea," says the boy from 12. "You're District 11, right?"

"Yea," I say. "I, uh, I liked your costume."

Suddenly, I feel a bit awkward. I'm having a casual conversation with my possible killer? Or worse. My possible victim. But maybe the casualness is okay, I mean, if I'm going to kill these people, I better be real nice to them so it evens out.

"I'm Eucalyptus Everdeen," the boy says.

"I'm-" I start.

"Ponyo Yomato," Eucalyptus nods. "Yea. I know."

I give him an awkward smile, and we all go quiet as the rest of the tributes come in. Then, the head trainer comes in and talks about the stations, and how each hour we will change them and lunch break and blah blah blah… I (as you can see) don't listen to her. Instead, I look at the other tributes, trying to see what odds I stand in order to survive. And, dear moondrop, it turns those odds are not in my favor. I am the youngest one here, most of them are two feet taller than me. The only ones who are closest to my age are the fifteen-year-olds, which is pretty bad because I'm only 13, who are Nettle, a foot taller than me and that kid Luiz with the curly brown hair who is about a foot and a half taller than me. The girl from District 12, with the light brown hair and tan skin, is 14, I think, since she actually looks only slightly older than me. She is the second smallest, naturally short, I guess, but she is still, in fact, six inches taller than me. How am I supposed to win? I promised Willow (well, kind of)! Friday was right; this isn't fair.

After the head trainer tells us the rules (for example, no fighting other tributes, but can practice on one of the trainers), I realize I have not much skill with any of the sections. I mean, I can climb trees, but what if we're in the wasteland from my dream? I saw no trees there. If that's the case, then you can bet your sweet biscuits on who will be the first kill.

I decide to go wherever Nettle goes, she is after all the closest thing I have to a friend here. Sure, I have Penny, and she is quiet nice, but I don't think flowery dresses will help me now. So, I follow Nettle to the archery course.

"You can shoot a bow and arrow?" I ask. When would she use that in District 4?

"No," Nettle actually blushes. "But might as well get the worst thing out of the way, right?"

And she has a point.

We both try the bow and arrows out with the boy from District 1. District 1 and I are crap with these arrows, but Nettle is pretty good for a beginner. She actually got real close to her targets, only missing by an inch, and even hitting the bull's eye. Unfortunately, I spend most of my time trying to keep the bow straight. I only shoot about 5 times in the whole hour, and each time I wasn't even close. I remember that if I survive the first hour of the games (unlikely, but it was unlikely I would even be chosen, right?) to not choose arrows.

After that failure, we head onto something that both of us can do, something easy, so we choose edible plants, along with Luiz and District 5's tributes. I remember that my life depends on this training section, so I pay extremely close attention to what plants are which, how to recognize an edible mushroom from a poisonous one, and how to use herbs for medicine. After an hour, I realize that extreme concentration was a good call, because I remember every single thing the trainer told me.

Next is knot tying, then knife wielding, then more combat and survival stuff until it's lunchtime. Then it repeats. And the next day, it goes on again until lunch. That's when I over hear District 2 and 3 talking about how tomorrow each of us will have a private session with the Gamemakers, who control everything that happens in the games, and we'll show them what we can do. Then I realize, I don't know anything that I'm superb at. Sure, I memorized the whole edible plants guide, but how will reciting that help me get a good score? That's lame. And The Hunger Games can hold nothing but the best.

I take a seat where Nettle is sitting. That's how it was yesterday, just the two of us. Most people are sitting like that, or, in a big group but not really talking. Who can blame them? No one wants to talk to their future victims or killer.

"What's wrong?" Nettle whispers. It's so quiet in here, we feel we shouldn't disturb its "peace".

"District 2 and 3 were talking about how we gotta show the Gamemakers what we can do tomorrow," I whisper glumly. "Then they'll show the score on TV. But… I don't know what I can do."

"But you memorized the guide of plant things!" Nettle exclaims quietly.

"Whoop de doo," I twirl my finger in the air sarcastically. "How will that help?"

"Aw, don't worry, Yomato," smirks Nettle. "Just put on your wings and fly! Then you'll get a perfect score."

I roll my eyes, and Nettle continues eating whatever is in that meat stuff they serve us. It tastes good, though, so who cares? I'm about to start eating, but then I realize I don't have a fork, and I see that Nettle has an extra…

Not wanting to disturb this freakish silence, I silently and quickly take the fork, and start eating. Nettle doesn't notice at all, but who cares? She's not using it. In fact, she doesn't notice at all until I tell her.

"Jeez!" she says. "How'd you do that?"

I shrug my shoulders, but just at that moment, I realize what I'm going to do for the Gamemakers.

I practice my sneaky-ness during every chance I get, except during plant time, because I don't want to eat a bad toadstool and die. That's just pathetic. Anyway, I practice a lot. During archery, when people aren't looking, I steal their arrows and hide them under the table, which is pretty funny because they get all freaked out that their arrows are disappearing faster than they're using them. After that hour, when they leave, I take out all the arrows I stole and put them back. Then, I do it again during camouflage section, when I distract people by "messing up" and saying, "Oh, moondrop!" and taking one paint bottle real quick when they look at my face. I actually, if I do say so myself, am real good at stealing, and it's pretty funny. People's reactions when their things are magically gone is hilarious.

The next day, before the private session, Hermes and Bonita tell Abu and I what to do, not to do, and how to get the Gamemakers' attention. I don't really listen, but rather, come up with how I'll distract about a dozen people, all watching my every move, and steal something from them, like forks or pens. After the talk, we're placed into a room with the other tributes, each of us sitting quietly. They call in each tribute, in district order, boy goes first, girl second. It's almost four hours until it's District 11's turn. Abu gets up to go, now it's just me, Eucalyptus, and the light brown haired girl. I'm nervous, but mostly eager. The Gamemakers have spent the last four hours watching 21 teenagers shoot stuff and stab dummies. They're going to be tired, have less attention on me. Dear moondrop, this will be a piece of cake.

After a while, Abu comes out, he gives me a quick nod and then leaves the room. I stand up, smooth my hair and brush off any dust that may have formed on my clothes after four hours, push open the doors and walk in.

The Gamemakers are sitting at a long table, with food and drink on it. They hold notebooks and pens, recording what the tributes do, I guess, and I was correct. They all look extremely tired. I feel a bit of pity for the light brown haired girl, she's the last to go and will have the least attention, but I can't worry about her now. Around the Gamemakers are bow and arrows, axes, knives, dummies, targets, weights, basically everything a tribute would need to show off. Above them, hanging from the ceiling, are many ropes. Perfect for climbing, like vines. Stealing will be a piece of cake.

"Hello," I say.

A few Gamemakers mumble hi's and hello's, and I start.

I run over to the knife section, I'm pretty good with them, after all, and grab five. Then, I move five dummies underneath the ropes, and once they in a realistic position, I run over to the longest rope, knives still in hand, and start climbing. I have to swing it a bit, but no matter, in a matter of seconds I'm already climbing. Once I'm near the first dummy, I swoop down near it and stab it, passing by the first Gamemaker, and I steal his knife. But she's so concentrated into my stabbing abilities that she doesn't notice. I quickly hide it in my pocket.

I keep climbing, and throw two knives at two dummies, hitting one, missing the other, and I steal a pen and a spoon from another Gamemaker. It keeps going on like that, me distracting them with my (if I do say so myself) awesome climbing, and stealing anything I can from them. Once my time is up, I've stolen four forks, two pens, and five spoons from everyone. When they dismiss me, I say, "Oh, you can have these back," and I plop them on the table.

I walk away, leaving very surprised looks on their faces.

_THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE YOMATO! HIDE YO FORKS, HIDE YO KNIVES!_

_...uh... yea. anyway! new chapter! woohoo! and a relative of Katniss Everdeen is in the Hunger Games, too! omg DRAMA!  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	8. Chapter 8

_yey! constructive criticism from jrush12! who is a guy! woopee!__ :)  
_

_yea, anyway i didn't mean to make this story that much like the original... it was kind of unconsious (can't spell that word to save my life). especially the beginning... i think it gets less like the hunger games when the games actually start. but, hey, i'm a beginner, so i still have to develop my creative writing skills more.  
_

_but thanks! i really like getting reviews, especially constructive criticism. :)  
_

_new chapter! a bit shorter... but i hope you enjoy anyway!  
_

Chapter Eight

When Bonita calls, I know it's time for dinner.

She, Abu and I walk to our table for meals, and when we sit down, servers hand us appetizers. Today it's salty fish stew. Yummy!

Abu and I are quiet, while the adults talk about the weather or how good the stew is (because it is seriously good). But it isn't until the main course comes when Hermes asks us, "Okay, now, what did you guys do?"

Abu, surprisingly talks first.

"I lifted and threw weights," he says (or mumbles, because whenever he talks, that's all he does). "Paid not much attention to me, though. Tired, I think."

"That's no excuse for not paying attention to you," Bonita actually looks mad. "Your life is on the line. They could at least pay SOME attention to you."

"Well," Sae says. "What about you, Ponyo?"

The spotlight is on me. All the attention makes me actually get a bit embarrassed, so I blush.

"Uhrm…" I say. "Wull… I climbed the ropes… They didn't pay a lot of attention to me, either… which is good…"

They all get a look of horror on their faces.

"What'd you do?" Hermes demands.

"No, no! Not like that! Well… I'm good at stealing, ya see? And I figured that'll help me later… cuz I could steal someone's food without them noticing till later… so to show that… while I was climbing and stuff I stole their forks and stuff. But I gave it back! I kinda had to…"

An awkward silence fills up the air to the brim.

"You made a fool out of the Gamemakers?" Penny finally asks.

I never thought of it like that. What will happen to me now?

"Yes…" I whisper.

"Impressive," Hermes nods his head.

"Huh?"

"If you could make a fool out of the Gamemakers," Penny explains. "Then there's a greater chance that you can make a fool out of the other tributes!"

"More entertainment," smirks Sae.

I find myself beaming, and we all finish our food.

After dinner, everyone goes into what Hermes calls the "District 11 Mentoring Room". There's a large, flat TV hanging from the wall. Everything on the screen is crystal clear, like it's a freshly washed window instead of a TV. They even have a remote! When I ask how many channels they have, Penny says five. Five channels! Holy moondrop! Then I ask what's on the channels.

"One is news," Hermes explains. "Like about the Hunger Games and the bombing and weather. That's the one all districts have, I think. Two is a talk show. Three is food and drink. Four is gossip, about celebrities from the talk show or fashion models. The tributes will be on that one later, I think. And five is fashion."

They have four whole channels about something as stupid as that? No wonder the Capitol people are idiots. But hey, four extra channels, if I could, I'd probably watch them just to watch them!

Bonita flips to channel one (though I secretly wish to do it myself). They're showing the scores now, the tribute face and the score. One, two, and three get extremely high scores, 1o's and 9's. Nettle's comes up as an eight. An eight? Good job, Nettle! Then five, then six (with that girl who cried. She actually got the same number as her district, a 6). Luiz comes up, same as the crying girl, a 6. More numbers and districts… aha! Here we are!

Abu got a nine! A nine! That's great!

Everyone congratulates him, until my face shows up (whoa, I look good). Underneath my face is a six.

Only a six?

Everyone tells me, "Good job, Ponyo!" because since I am the smallest and youngest, that's pretty good, considering both District 1o got a four. But it doesn't really seem fair to me. I was stabbing dummies while climbing ropes and steal objects! Do you know how hard that is? I deserve at least an eight!

We watch the rest, which is only 12. Eucalyptus gets a seven. The brown haired girl got an 11.

ELEVEN?

Everyone stares wide eyed and jaw opened at the screen. That girl is the second youngest AND second smallest tribute! HOW DID SHE GET AN 11? That's higher than the highest score so far!

"Ho. Lee. Moon. Drop," I awe.

"Well…" Hermes says. "That was… surprising…"

"Indeed," Bonita nods.

We go quiet with awe for a little bit.

Hermes clears his throat.

"Well," he says. "Tomorrow is the interviews…"

"Oh yes!" Bonita is suddenly all smiles. "Get lots of sleep! You want to look your best!"

"What's the costume this time," I say to Penny. "More fairies?"

"Kinda," she smiles.

_NO MATTER WHICH HUNGER GAMES IT IS, THE GIRL FROM DISTRICT 12 ALWAYS GETS 11 OR MORE..._

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	9. Chapter 9

_ugh, too tired for anything else. (homework, homework... turns out i have to make up a lot of stuff. the teachers didn't update my grades until now... not that i blame them. i'd take my time doing homework if i had the chance...) anyway, here's the newest chapter of let the games begin._

Chapter Nine

"AND LET THE FIRST EVER INTERVIEW PRACTICE SESSIONS… BEGIN!"

Or, at least that's how I feel. Forget training for the Hunger Games, training for an interview is more murderous and cruel than whatever they'll put in that arena.

Abu and I are being coached separately. I get Bonita first, since she's a female like me, so she knows more about female manners than male manners. We each get four hours with each trainer. But how will manners last four whole hours?

I was so, so wrong.

Bonita shoves me into a skinny, silky dress and forces me to walk in these things called "high heels". I've only seen people from the Capitol wear them; they're basically these really uncomfortable shoes that make your feet go into a tip toe because there's this skinny, yet freakishly strong, pole that comes down from bottom of your heel, which is why they're called "high heels".

These things are probably the most evil contraptions ever created!

The human body was not evolved to walk on stilts, so once I put them on, I have to fight for my life to merely stand up. Walking is another thing. It's impossible for me to go one inch without bending my foot in an unnatural position. I probably sprained my feet twelve times over just walking across the room. I'm surprised my hands aren't bleeding, though, because since I'm on tip toe, I fall on my face first a lot, too, making me hold my hands out to break my fall. But, though they aren't on the outside, by the pain that's in my hands, I bet that they are bleeding internally.

Once I can walk across the room and back without breaking my spine, I still have a way to go. There's still sitting, posture, eye contact, hand gestures and smiling. So, Bonita teaches me that when I sit, I should keep my knees together and my ankles crossed. It's the most uncomfortable way I've ever sat, I usually just sit normally, sometimes even with my feet and legs criss crossed on chairs. I tell Bonita that it hurts my still sprained legs, and makes me look like I really have to pee, but she says it's the best way for people not to see my underwear while wearing a skirt. And I have to admit, she's right on that one.

But posture is probably some form of ancient torture that somehow evolved into manners… because I have to sit with my back perfectly straight, shoulders cocked, and my head nice and proud. It hurts my spine, and I don't really feel confident and proud, I feel more like a peacock.

Eye contact is bad too, the connection I get from staring right into someone's eyes and them staring back makes me feel like they're staring into my soul. Hand gestures, should be natural, Bonita tells me, but since she's telling me when and how to do it, it doesn't feel natural. More like me swatting an imaginary fly.

And now… the final event (bum, bum, bum…)…

Smiling!

There's probably a thousand ways to start talking with a smile, smile in the middle, and end with a smile. But smiling that much isn't natural!

"I don't want to smile that much, Bonita," I tell her. "That's not me. I only smile when people crack a joke… or when I'm around friends!"

"Just pretend you're around friends, then," Bonita says, smiling (curse that).

"But I won't be," my frown deepens. It's almost like a contest, Bonita smiling, me frowning.

"Just pretend," Bonita smiles even more.

"Why should I?" I scream. "Those morons are betting on my life!"

Bonita's smile quickly fades into a frown. I've crossed the line.

"Just do it," she glares. Then, she takes a deep breath, and smiles. "See?"

Finally, I roll my eyes and give up. After that, we spend the rest of our time smiling, and after my four hours of hell with her, every part of my body hurts, especially my mouth.

We all have a quick lunch break, and then Abu and I switch trainers.

"You're not gonna make me run around on high heels, are you?" I ask Hermes, glumly.

"Nah," he shakes his head. "I'll be figuring out what you are."

"Huh?"

"Like, your personality. If your witty, smart, quiet."

"Ohhhhh," I am understanding his words now. "So where do we start?"

"Well, let's see were you are so far," he says, stroking his beard. "Once your name was chosen, your sister started crying, but you didn't even look at her. You seemed very serious and mature. But, when you cracked the joke… not very serious."

I blush.

"Then there were you flying around during the parade. Not serious at all. But fun. You're a kid, and you're fun."

"So, I'm mature, but fun?" I ask. I don't really feel like I'm either of those things.

"Maybe," he says. "More like unpredictable. First, you're serious. Then, you're so immature that you cracked a joke during the Reaping. Then, you seem like a normal kid having fun."

Unpredictable? I never thought of myself that way. But maybe I am. I was very sulky when I was watching the bombing repeats that seem so long ago… and then, next thing I knew, I was cracking a joke in front of the whole world.

"Well, what are proven crowd pleasers?" I ask him. Maybe I can try to stay one of those things.

"Witty, funny, tough, sexy," he lists.

"Sexy?"

"Don't worry, you're too young for that."

So we start trying out things. First we try tough, but whenever I try to act all big and buff, Hermes starts laughing hysterically, since I'm so small and childish while doing it. Then we try witty, and we both find that I can be very witty. He says it's no joke that I'm very funny (oh, irony), even though I don't really think I'm that funny. We try some other things, too, just in case I'll need to be like that. I try cocky, but apparently I'm so humble I wouldn't be able to boast to save my life. So we decide to stay with witty and funny. But we still have three hours and a half left, so we spend the rest our time cracking jokes and stuff to warm me up for the interview.

Once that passes, Hermes finally concludes that I am friendly, witty and funny. A proven crowd pleaser. And after spending a long while with Hermes just joking around, I think it'll be safe to say we're friends.

Now, it's time to dress me for the interview.

I'm taken to the same room I was in when I met Penny and my Prep Crew. First, they erase my whole face with makeup. Then, they go over my features again in this strange, dark pencil thing. I don't really think it's a pencil, but, hey, it looks like one! Anyway, by doing so, they've made my skin look like I've taken a really good, cleansing bath. And the dark pencil thing makes my eyes look bigger, and my other important features darker and prettier. They pull up my short hair into a small ponytail, but since my hair looks so thick it looks longer than it truly is. They put these things called "clip on earrings" on the lobes of my ears, and they're basically these black hoops. Pulling back a few loose strands of hair, they use the same gold clip from when I was reaped (how they found it, I'm not sure). When I ask Penny what dress I'll be wearing, she pulls out a sleeveless black dress.

It's beautiful, a connected collar that'll go around my neck (and hold up the dress), a pattern of blue diamonds going across the chest, (and one on the collar) and dark blue ruffles here and there. And one the back, a pair of black feathery wings, looking almost like flower petals, with a clear blue center.

"Holy moondrop," I say.

I put on the dress, and slip on these soft shoes called "flats" (at least 1oo% times more comfortable than high heels). When I look at myself in the mirror, I look almost nothing like the girlish fairy from the parade.

"What happened to the fairy theme?" I ask.

"I wanted something different," Penny shrugs. "So, you're more of a… _goth pixie…"_

"Sweet," I smile.

"Now, come on," Penny says. "It's time for the interview."

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

I bite my bottom lip with nervousness.

I am onstage with all the other tributes, sitting in a line of chairs. Abu's on my right side, District 1o boy is on my left. There are at least a million people out in the crowd. And there's about a billion more watching somewhere else.

I take a deep breath. I wish I could go first and get this over with. But, as usual, it's district order.

The interviewer's name is Remus Flickerman. Each tribute gets three minutes before the buzzer goes off. The first person to go is the girl from District 1 (ladies first). She's very sassy and bold. The boy from District 1 is rough and aggressive. A proven crowd pleaser. The boy from District 2 is ENORMOUS. Like, bigger than Abu, which is really saying something. I do hope that guy does not kill me.

I must say, this Remus guy is a pretty good interviewer. He laughs at the cheesy jokes, makes the quiet guys more confident, and his expressions to your answers could turn a response that was crap to a response that's a golden toilet.

Now it's Nettle's turn. I see her mentor had no problem finding something for her, she's witty and cocky all the way. Hopefully her interview will help her get more sponsors, because her Stylist is REALLY BAD.

Then goes the crying girl from 6. She's actually very outgoing, so maybe instead of overly dramatic, she's… _passionate. _And then the curly haired dude named Luiz comes on. He's a riot; everyone in the audience, including me and a bunch of other tributes, are laughing at his jokes. Then 8, 9, and 1o go.

And now it's my turn.

I take a deep breath, stand up and trot over to my seat next to Remus.

"Hello, Ponyo," he smiles.

"H-hi, there," I try to control my chattering teeth.

"Oh, no need to be nervous," he says. "We're all friends here."

"Mmhmm…" I say nervously. I wish there was some sort of one way glass between me and the audience; so they could see me, but I couldn't see them.

"So, Ponyo," continues Remus. "How has the Capitol been so far for you? It must be so much different than District 11."

_Be funny, _I tell myself. _Be witty. Be friendly. Just be SOMETHING!_

"Sorta," I say. Think! "The people are really nice like back home… only the food is ten times better…"

Remus chuckles at my remark. "Anything else?"

Think! Think! AHA!

"And back home we never fly around on fairy wings," I say. "That was really fun!"

"It must have been!" Remus nods with a smile. "And you looked extravagant! You completely stole the show!"

"Yea," I find myself grinning from ear to ear. "I thought 3 and 12 we're gonna have all the glory… because that had such great costumes! But like my fellow tribute Abu's Stylist says, 'Never doubt the power of fashion!'"

My remark gets a big laugh from the audience.

"Which is why I can see all you guys are so into it," I shrug my shoulders and smirk. This'll be a piece of cake.

"Yes," Remus nods. He doesn't need to help me anymore. It's almost as if I'M interviewing HIM. "But can I ask, what was the hardest thing about your transition from farmland to a huge city?"

I give myself a moment to think.

"Two words," I say. "High. Heels."

Another big laugh, and from a few tributes this time, too.

"And I though the Hunger Games training was hard," I roll my eyes. "I think I broke my spine at least four times over and around." But then I smile mischievously. "Hopefully the Gamemakers will put them in the arena, though. They'd make awesome weapons."

Another laugh erupts as Remus's face lights up with agreement.

"Yes!" he nods, laughing. "All you would have to do it karate kick them in the chest!" Even more laughter. What was I so afraid of? This is great!

Then we spend the next minute talking about other fashion exssessories that could be used as weapons, like hair spray, or mascara. But then Remus brings up the topic of family.

"During the Reaping," he says. "A little girl grabbed your arm and started crying. Who was that?"

Suddenly, I feel very quiet. A pain wells up in my chest, and my eyes start stinging. _Not now. I can't start crying now._

"That was my little sister," I explain quietly. "Her name is Willow. She's only four. And… I miss her badly."

You could hear a pin drop in the audience.

"I hope she's watching," I feel a tear roll down my face, and I quickly wipe it away.

"Did she say anything to you before you left?" Remus asks gentlely.

"She made me promise to win," I say. "I and did."

"I'm sure you did," Remus nods politely.

My minute's almost over. I need to say something before I go.

"But…" I start.

"What?"

"How can I win if I'm the youngest and smallest here?" I ask, not really wanting an answer.

Remus is actually speechless. But that's okay. My buzzer goes off.

"Well," Remus says. "Thanks for being here, Ponyo."

I smile. "Thanks for having me," I say. I stand up, and face the audience.

"And may the odds be _ever _in my favor," I say proudly.

I twirl around and trot back to my seat as the people of the Capitol give me thunderous applause.

_yup._

_-Yaya The Elf, AKA "Can't-Wait-For-Summer"  
_


	10. Chapter 10

_sorry for late notice. anyway, i think i'll be posting my chapters every friday or so. i only posted every day since i just wanted to get the boring stuff over with._

_enjoy!  
_

Chapter Ten

I don't really listen to the other interviews, because I'm buzzing with glee. I feel like I'm light as air, completely happy. Once the interviews are over, we're taken back to our quarters. Everyone congratulates us on a job well done with high fives and pats on the back. We eat dinner, and then it's bedtime.

But once I hit the bed, horror washes over me.

_This is my last day in the Capitol._

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

I spend most of the night doing what I do best: running around and eating. I really should be resting, but there's just something about worry that makes me unable to STAND STILL! Besides, this could be my last night alive, and I want to spend it to the fullest (fullest as in stomach wise).

At 8 AM sharp, Bonita and Hermes come to my door, Abu standing near them. They tell us we don't need to bother getting dressed, because we'll have combat suits for the arena.

They take us to the landing platform for hovercrafts, where we wait to be picked up and shipped out like slaves. But not before Hermes gives us a little word of advice.

"Remember," Hermes says. "You'll have to stay on your platform for 6o seconds when you're in the arena."

"What happens if we get off too early?" I ask him.

"It explodes," he says. "But don't worry, they count down once there's 5 seconds left. There will be a large Cornucopia full of weapons. Most likely there will be a bloodbath over the weapons, and if so, DO NOT FIGHT."

Abu and I nod.

"Snatch any backpack or weapon at random, and then get out of there. Once your far enough away, find a source of water. That will be your best chance of survival."

"And after that?" I ask him.

"Stay alive," Hermes's is dead serious.

Right on cue, the hovercraft appears. Abu and I bid farewell to Bonita and Hermes, and we both walk onto the hovercraft. Sae and Penny are there, and our Stylists take us away to dress us in our combat outfits.

"More fairy wings?" I ask Penny as she takes me into my waiting room.

"I don't know," Penny shrugs. "Stylists have no say in the combat outfits."

I can see this is really hard on Penny. Her green eyes are filling up with tears. I guess I never realized how much people started liking until now.

She opens a cardboard box, and it's filled with my clothes. A light brown tee shirt, dark brown pants, dark grey running shoes, a sturdy gold belt and strangely large grey gloves. To keep me warm, maybe? Whatever. I dress myself, and we arrive at the station. Penny and I are taken into a small dark room with a couch and a long, clear tube with a door. Probably the thing shoots me into arena. We wait until my signal to go into the tube, until Penny gasps.

"Oh!" she says. "I completely forgot!"

She digs into her pocket a takes out a gold clip. The same plastic gold clip from District 11.

"Tributes are aloud to have tokens," she explains. "From your district. This was the only this I could find…"

I smile and take the clip. I clip back some strands of hair that always hang in my face, and then I hug Penny.

"Thanks," I say.

A pleasant voice tells us that the tributes must get ready and step onto our platforms. I say goodbye to Penny as she opens the door to the tube. I take a deep breath a walk in. She shuts the door. I prepare myself. I could be dead in about two minutes. The fear takes control, and I start shaking. I haven't felt this scared since the bombings a year ago.

No child should ever have to feel like this.

The platform starts to lift me up, and I watch Penny disappear as I rise from the ground. It could've only been 15 seconds, but for me it feels like an eternity. I see a light, and I smell fresh air. Untouched from nuclear power.

I see the arena, and the Cornucopia. The arena is a grassy plain; golden strands of grass everywhere. Far away, I see forest. Or jungle. I can't tell.

I remember to wait. I look to my side. Tributes are lined up, ready to kill.

We wait our turf. Now here's the count down.

"Five…"

I take a deep breath and focus my energy on running.

"Four…"

I see Nettle, about five tributes to my left. She looks determined… and scared.

"Three…"

"Two…"

In one second, I could be dead.

"One."


	11. Chapter 11

_wassup my Hungerlings? i say we all get together, pray to jesus and thank god it's friday!_

Chapter Eleven

Every tribute runs as fast as lightning toward to Cornucopia. I sprint as fast as a 13-year-old possibly can. I am fast, but my youth makes me a bit slower than most. I urge myself to go faster.

We approach the Cornucopia. District 1 girl finds a knife, and she smiles cruelly at me. She attacks me, but the odds are in my favor. Or at least for now. I dodge her, pick the first backpack I see, and start running to the forest. It's at least 1oo yards away. I don't know if I can make it. But I'm not dead yet, so no need for pessimism.

Other tributes chase after me, to kill me or to escape from the bloodbath, I have no idea. But I'm not going to take any chances, so I run faster. I had a head start, so we'll see what their true intentions are.

I'm making good time. The forest is only 5o yards away now. I'm stating to slow down, but I urge myself to keep going. Strangely enough, I have an urge to laugh. This chase makes me think of ones Friday and I have had with other kids during recess when we have school. I quickly push those thoughts out of my head. These aren't 13 year olds that are going to grab you and tickle you when they catch up. These are 16 year olds that have knives and are going to stab your neck and leave your sorry carcass for the Capitol people to laugh at.

I head into the forest, and try to go an entirely different way then those folks are going. They go forward, trying to stay away from the others. So I go right. To survive, I need to stay as far away from human life as possible. I tiring more quickly now, but I need to keep going. Slow and steady isn't going to win this race.

I keep going for at least ten more minutes until I can't go any longer. I drop to the ground and start gasping for breath. I allow myself to breath in deeply to get rid of the cramps for two minutes, and then I start again. I head out of the forest and into a different plain. I need to find water. All this running is making me thirsty. To slow down my heartbeat, I walk instead of run. But that moment with District 1 freaked me out. Every time I hear rustling or a branch break, I instantly sprint away from that very spot. Finally after ten minutes of walking and running away in terror, I find a stream. I settle down next to it and put some water on my face to cool me down. Then, I open my pack to see what's inside.

A an empty gallon carton for water, iodine to purify it (thank you), chap stick (why a tribute would need chap stick while battling to the death, I don't know), bread, crackers, a knife (yes), and a large, hooded cloak the color of the night sky. Well, I can't wear that. It'll make me look even more noticeable in this golden grass, I might as well be wearing a huge neon sign saying: "DEATH WISH!".

Color of the night sky… that's it!

During night, there will be no way anyone could see me with this cloak on. I can sleep during the day, and get farther and farther from human life during night. That way, no one will kill me, because they'll be asleep, and I won't have to kill them either! _And, _if I _do _meet up with a sleeping person, I can just steal their food or weapons. And they'd never know! How brilliant am I? But… how will I be able to see? I look for something else… and to my luck, I find those night vision glasses we wear during the harvest! Perfect! I do believe I have taken the best backpack in the whole arena.

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound fills the air. I grab my knife, and ready myself for combat. Then another. And another. I count nine all together. Then, it stops.

My heart racing, I realize no one is there.

What the moondrop was that?

It reminds me off one of those canons we used during the Dark Days. But I doubt anyone has a canon here. There was nothing that big in the Cornucopia, and even if there was, no one would be able to use it. We'd need matches, and I don't think there are any matches in those backpacks, although it's possible, and a canon would be EXTREMELY hard to carry. They weigh at least a whole ton.

I wait at least ten whole minutes to see if it'll happen again. Maybe they just do that to tell you the time. We did leave at 8 o'clock, after all, so maybe it's 9 o'clock. The sun looks like it's about that time.

I decide to continue with my battle strategy, and the grass is _really _long here, at least a foot tall, and I hide in the waves of golden grass, and try to sleep.

It takes about 3o minutes to do so, but, finally, exhaustion takes over and I pass out.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

The national anthem booms me awake. It's dark, so I must have slept a good while. But, wait, why is the anthem playing? I look up at the sky. The Capitol's seal is projected onto it (how, I have no idea). Then, the seal goes away, and is replaced by the face of a girl, with a 3 underneath her.

_Oh, _I think. _She's from District 3. But why is she on the sky?_

Then, her face is replaced by the boy from District 4. Then both from 5, the boy from 6, and both from 9 and 1o. There are nine in all.

Then it hits me.

The canon shots show a death, so there were nine deaths today. Poor Nettle, her district partner is gone. Oh, well.

I stand up and stretch as the anthem finishes and the Capitol seal dissolves into the night sky. Then, I take out my gallon and fill it up with water from the stream. After that, I put drops of iodine to purify it. I wait 3o minutes, drink some water and eat a few crackers, put on my cloak and glasses, and I'm off.

I keep close to the stream, and go to the left of where I started. I decide to walk, since no one is awake, or, if they are, they're probably far, far away from me. It's a bit chilly, but thanks to my cloak, I'm perfectly warm. I go for a long while, about two hours, but I start to get hungry. I know I have crackers and bread, but that's not much. I need to hunt and gather if I want to survive. I keep going until I see another forest, where I run over to it. Thank goodness I have my glasses to see. It would be impossible to find any source of food without them. I find a good tree with edible fruit, and I gather a bunch. I put four in my backpack, and take one to eat. I start looking around for something else, like an animal to eat. I leap around in the trees, trying to scout the ground for an animal. Well, I don't find an animal, but I do find a nest of birds' eggs. With no mommy. Poor guys. But, it's you or me so I think I'll go with me. I take the eggs, which look plenty edible, and I crack each of them open and eat them raw. It's not the best meal, but I've heard raw eggs are good protein, and I'm starved, so, why not?

I leap down from the tree, and start heading off the same direction I was going. I munch on a fruit with one hand, and my knife is in the other. So, if by chance I'm attacked, I can either stab the person or smash fruit in their face.

I go out of the forest, and stay in the plain, close to both the forest and the stream.

I hear rustling. And it's coming from right behind me.

I shove my half eaten fruit in my pack, and sprint as fast as I can away from whatever's behind me.

And it's following me.

I try running faster, and I look back. It's a pack of wild dogs. And I'm their next meal.

I force myself to hold in a scream and run even faster. I can't wake anyone. I'll be dead for sure.

The pack is running now. I try to run faster. I've had a 1o yard head start, but there's about five of them, and they're built for this kind of stuff. But I will not die on the first night of the games. If I'm going to die, then I want the audience to remember me as the girl who went down with a fight, not the girl who was eaten by a pack of ferocious puppies.

I run harder, and my hood flies back from the wind I'm creating. I can feel the dogs catching up to me. I start to cry, tears blurring my vision, and I mentally slap myself. This is not helping.

I can see… a lake! Yes! Hopefully the dogs won't be able to swim, and I'll be safe.

I run faster, harder. One dog catches up to me and growls. He snaps his teeth so close to my feet I jump. I use my knife and stab him. Right through the skull.

I keep running. I remember my dream about Willow watching me die. Surely I am on every TV in the whole world. I will not let Willow watch me be _eaten._

I run even faster. The dogs are right behind me. They attack, but I try my best to dodge them. One scratches my calf with its tooth, it was so close. The pain is instant, and I feel my warm blood drip down my leg. But the lake is so close. I cannot stop.

One snaps at my hand. I fall backward, and it jumps on me. I try to keep my face away from it's mouth, and I use my legs to kick its stomach and off of me. It yelps, and I jump up and I see that I'm surrounded by them. I throw my knife at the one closest to the lake, and it's stabbed in the eye. Blood squirts out, and I pull my knife out of its socket and make a break for it. They're right on the tail of my cloak. I run faster so they don't bite it and pull me back, but they're faster. I keep running. The lake is RIGHT THERE.

One snaps at my leg, and it scratches my calf even more. I didn't know pain from a mere animal could be so intense. The lake is right in front of me. I run into it, but the water slows me down so I can't run as fast. But I keep going. I run until the water is up to my neck, and I have to move my arms and legs back and forth to keep me up.

To my relief, the dogs cannot swim. But they stay there. They know I cannot keep this up for long. The pain in my calf hurts so much, and it makes a pool of blood around me. Like in my dream. I try to not think of how tired I am, or how much my leg hurts, or how I'm probably loosing quite a bit of blood now.

After a huge amount of time (or at least, what it feels like), the dogs give up and go away. I have to keep my head above the water, because I'm starting to sink from exhaustion. When the dogs are long go (I wait a while to see if they come back) only my nose and eyes are above water. Then, I start to swim back. It takes longer than it should, but I'm tired. Once I get to shore, I gasping for breath. I'm suddenly very thankful to be alive, and I start crying. It's harder to breathe now because I keep trying to choke back sobs so no one hears me. I'm shaking, I'm extremely tired, and I'm crying. I'm easy prey.

Once I pull myself together, a pool of blood forms around my calf. I rip of some of my cloak and tie it over my wounds to stop the bleeding. Then, I drink some water, and take deep breaths. I'm soaking wet, and my glasses are covered in drops of blood and water. I wipe it off, so when I put them back on, everything is clear again. I take off my cloak, twist it up real hard so all the water gets out, making it only slightly damp. I put it back on, and check to see if my clip is still in my hair. Thank moondrop it still is.

I know I should keep going, but that attack has made me scared to go anywhere. So I just sit by the shore of the lake, watching the pretty waves. When the sun starts rising, I know people are going to be waking up soon. So I go back to the forest, and I climb a tree. I make a nest out of the leaves, and once it's secure, I thank whoever that the odds are still in my favor, and I go to sleep.

_CRAZY MUTT DOGS? DOES BATTLE ROYALE HAVE **THAT, **BR FANS?_

_**I DIDN'T THINK SO!**  
_

_actually i have no idea still since i'm still on the waiting list at my library... 8 people just have to finish and i'll get one of the copies!  
_

_ALSO! TigreMalabarista added this to his/her favorites! this person officially has the craziest/longest/most-hard-to-spell penname in fanfiction history  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_Yaya The Elf  
_


	12. Chapter 12

_i almost forgot it was friday... i think i've been brainwashed by avatar: the last airbender O.o_

_anyway, enjoy!  
_

Chapter Twelve

An extremely large crackling of a branch breaking spears the air, and when I open my eyes in alarm, the sunlight is blinding.

I have no trouble waking up, I'm sitting right up on my nest. I grab my knife just in case. After my attack with the dogs, I'm really not in the mood see whoever human's ugly face that is. Another crack. This is no animal. Someone is near…

I quietly shove my things in my pack, put it on my shoulders, knife still in hand, and silently inspect the tree. No one. Maybe farther, though. I look up at the sky. It must be noon.

I drop down from the tree and decide to go farther so I can sleep in peace, but then I see a shadow move down from a tree.

I start backing away slowly, and that's when she comes out.

District 1. Holding a big ol' knife.

"Hello again, birdie," she smiles.

"Get out of here, One," I spit at her. "I'm not in the mood. I've had a rough night."

"Oh, so you killed the little puppy?" she smiles evilly. "How cute."

"Where's your district partner?" I ask her. "You didn't pair up? Both got nines. Would've been unstoppable."

I notice two tree branches behind her. They look like they've been broken. Understandable, because those branches would not support her weight.

"Aw," I smile evilly at her. "Did the gorilla try to climb a tree? How cute."

No one could mistake the rage on her face.

She swings her knife at me, but I dodge it. My only chance against her is to get into the trees. She can't climb with that weight. I'm actually surprised she didn't break her neck.

A moment later, I karate kick her in the chest, just like Remus Flickerman told me. She is forced back, and while the ox stumbles and run to the best climbing tree I can see. There! A yard away.

District 1 screams an angry, inhuman scream, and lunges for me. I miss her by an inch. She tries to stab the bottom of my calf (no thanks), but thanks to my 13 years in District 11, I'm an extremely good climber. Once I'm at the top, and run across the branches and leap from tree to tree. This is what I was bred for.

Once I'm far enough away, I make another nest. I need my sleep.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

The anthem is my alarm clock.

The boy from District 3 is dead, same with District 8's boy. 11 down. 13 to go.

I eat a fruit, drink a little water, and decide I should try to find water. Going back to the lake isn't an option, I really don't want to meet up with those dogs again. Perhaps I can go back to the stream, but who knows how far away it is now? Thanks to District 1, I was forced to flee at random, so I don't even know what direction it is in. I put on my night vision glasses and check my water supply. It's half full (or half empty, depending on your point of view), which is pretty good (or pretty bad, like I said), but with my treading through the grass all night, I'm bound to get thirsty, so this water is going to run out fast.

I bite my bottom lip with nervousness, and I start getting that overwhelming sensation to get up and run around. Which is good, I'll need all the energy I can get. So I pack up my things, put on my pack and cloak, make sure my clip is still in my hair, and I get going. I decide to go the opposite direction of where District 1 was last, and I tread through the forest. But being here makes me uneasy, all the midnight sounds and twigs breaking, you'd never be able to tell a human from an animal. But, I get lots of practice of this kind of thing during the harvest where we have to work all night long. Humans usually make a ton more noise than animals, especially large, noisy teenagers (wink, wink). Maybe so, but I still run away in fright if I hear an interesting noise.

After an hour or so of treading, I still find no water, so I force myself to take two sips of water from my canister. Two sips, nothing more. Hopefully I'll find more grassland; that seems to be the only place of water in the arena. And, it's easy to run there, while here you have to possibility of tripping and falling on your face. That's not very helpful when you're trying to outrun a gorilla like District 1.

I hear something. Like a thousand twigs breaking all at once.

It has to be a person.

I immediately search for a good climbing tree. Um… there! To my right. I fly up the tree until I'm far enough away from someone who would want to kill me. I hear voices… about four of them. I get a bit lower on the tree, holding my knife, and try to see who these people are.

Too far away, but not far enough for me not to hear their voices.

"Ugh… can we PLEASE take a break?" groans a girl.

"Clare, quit asking us that!" says a boy. "We need to get far enough away from District 1 and 2."

Now this I've got to hear.

"We've been walking since SUNDOWN," the girl, Clare moans. "There's no way they're going to find us!"

"Would you be quiet?" snaps another boy. "You're going to wake up the whole arena!"

"It's not my fault I'm lazy!" Clare groans. "We never do this kind of thing in District 6!"

So Clare is the crying girl. Huh. I wonder who in their right mind would pair up with her. Why would ANYONE pair up with another person, anyway? We're just going to end up killing each other, and I rather kill total strangers than friends.

The group moves, and I get a better look at their faces, though one is still a bit iffy to see. It's the funny, curly haired guy named Luiz from District 7, and Eucalyptus Everdeen from District 12.

"No, Clare is right. We should probably stay here," another girl voice says.

I almost fall out of the tree.

That's not just some girl's voice.

It's Nettle Hathworth from District 4.


	13. Chapter 13

_woohoo! another review! by a person named "justafan". btw, don't worry, justafan, i'm not going to drop this story because i finished writing it in march and now i'm just posting it by chapters on fanfiction (i like that way better so i can edit it better and tweak stuff since my final draft is usually a lot different than the first)_

_anyway, i decided to post early. i will post again on friday. ENJOY!  
_

Chapter Thirteen

The four start setting up camp, but I can't take my eyes off of Nettle. Sassy, red pony tailed, smirking Nettle has joined another group. A group that's job is to kill me.

Well, I certainly can't leave now. Even though I'm very hard to catch, those guys aren't stupid. They'd hear me, or see me. And I can't make a nest and sit there watching them, because, one: that's creepy, and two: they'd hear the branches break.

I bite my bottom lip, and try to suffocate the urge to run around. It's not working quite well. Maybe I can just wait here until they go to sleep. But, what if they have someone stand guard, to alert each other if there's an attack?

"Why'd you think District 1 and 2 just randomly paired up?" Nettle asks. "We saw them apart before, so, why'd they join?"

"Maybe they saw us and thought it was a good idea?" Luiz offers.

"Maybe," Eucalyptus shrugs.

Then I have an awful thought…

I asked District 1 why she didn't join her partner. Maybe, after I left, she took up the offer, and then they joined District 2.

Guilt washes over me. I almost got Nettle killed. But as soon as it comes, I quickly shake those thoughts away. If I'm going to win, I can't worry about Nettle or her posse. It's them, or me so I'll think I'll go with me.

"Oh, who cares?" Clare asks. "I'm hungry! Let's eat."

"Fine," Nettle rolls her eyes. "Just don't eat the whole bird again!"

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

_Ugh, _I think. _Just kill the brat. She's slowing you down! We'll all be better off._

"Guys," Luiz says, unrolling a sleeping bag (lucky). "You know how when that District 2 boy named Ares attacked me, and then I spit in his eyes to get him away from me?"

Luiz was _attacked _by that giant? And he _survived? _Whoa. I get an urge to have that boy join my team.

"Yea…?" Eucalyptus says. "Why?"

"Well, when I spit, I got my spit glands going or something, and now I have snot stuck to my throat and I can't get rid of it!"

I stifle and urge to laugh out loud. Why does he have to be so funny?

"That's disgusting!" Clare makes a face.

"Is that why you were making those noises an hour ago?" Nettle asks.

"Yes! I was trying to de-snot-tee-fy my throat!"

"What is wrong with you?" Eucalyptus demands.

"I can't help it!" Luiz throws his hands up in the air. "I'm a mess!"

"Duh."

I'm literally covering my mouth with both hands just to keep in my giggles.

"That's cold," Luiz gets offended.

"Shut up, fuzzy head."

"That's cold, too."

The whole thing is so ridiculous that I can't help but laugh, just once. But as soon as the noise comes out of my mouth, I quickly regret it. The group is suddenly ready for action; Nettle's bow and arrow ready, Luiz and Clare holding knives, and Eucalyptus holding out a sword.

"Who's there?" Nettle demands.

I'm tempted to say, "Ponyo Yomato" but I swallow the thought. With Clare on their team, and the others being all noisy, I'd be killed for sure by another group.

I slowly stand up on my tree branch, and I slowly and quietly start walking across the branch to leap into another tree. I'm just about to jump into the next tree when Clare shouts, "There!" and Nettle shoots an arrow at me.

It rips off a bit of the sleeve of my shirt, and I quickly leap into the tree. But the group isn't giving up so easily. They chase after me. I'm a pretty fast climber, but being chased by a bunch of older, faster teenagers isn't helping my case. And, Nettle is an animal with those arrows, she almost hits me every time, but her running is making her aim a bit worse than normal.

The forest is starting to end, and I see lots of grassland. The group is still on my trail, but exhaustion is slowing them down, so I'm ahead of them. I leap down from the last tree, and start sprinting away from them. But they can sprint to. And what's a little 13 year old going to do to a group of 15 and 16 year olds with knives, swords and arrows? I force myself to go faster, and I start cursing whoever made up chase.

I look back at the group, and they're catching up. I turn quickly, and pull up my hood so they don't recognize me in anyway.

"Who is she?" Luiz asks the others, still running hard.

"I don't know!" Clare says. "She's so small and fast!"

Then Nettle makes the connection. With her seeing my short cropped hair, and being small.

"It's Ponyo!" she yells.

I start running faster, trying to outrun them. But there's nowhere for me to hide. There's just me, them, and a bunch of grass.

"Ponyo!" Eucalyptus exclaims. "You mean the little one?"

"The one with the wings?" Clare asks.

"Yes!" Nettle exclaims. "I know her!" Then she calls out to me. "Yomato! Stop! It's me, Nettle!"

I dart my head back, and I see the group is slowing down, but I keep running. Those guys are just going to slow me down, and even if I do join them, if we're the only ones left, you can bet your sweet biscuits who will be the first one killed.

"Ponyo!" Nettle calls. "It's okay! We're not going to hurt you!"

I don't know why, but something about her saying that makes me stop. Will she actually not hurt me? She is my friend, after all. The only one I have in this whole arena. So she'll protect me. And if it does come down to only us… well, we can split up, right? So we don't have to face each other?

When they see me stop, they jog over to me.

"See?" Nettle says once they get to me. "It's okay! We're all friends!"

"Uh… yea…" I mumble.

"Nice cloak," Luiz nods his head.

Then Clare gets confused.

"It's nighttime," she says. "Why are you wearing sunglasses?"

"Wha?" I say. Then I remember my glasses, so I take them off. Everything becomes instantly dark. "Oh. These are night vision glasses."

"Hey!" Eucalyptus says. "I think we have some of those! We tried them on during the day, but it made everything all blurry."

"Yea," I say quietly. "They do that." Then I put them back on, and take a good look on them.

Well, 1 and 2, that's for sure, definitely attacked them. Nettle's ponytail is a bit sloppier than normal, and she has a bandage of her right arm. Clare's shirt is ripped at the bottom, so you could see her belly button if there wasn't bandages there. Eucalyptus has a bandage going around his head, and Luiz has a small cut on his eyebrow. And they're all covered in dirt and leaves.

"So?" Clare asks, her blue eyes full of excitement. "Will you join us?"

"Uhm…" I start. "Sure! I'd love to…"  
"Woo hoo!" they all clap their hands.

"Yea," I say. "Don't do that. We'll be heard… and there are wild dogs around here, I think."

They instantly get quiet, and then we go back to their camp.

_Ponyo has joined a group?  
_

_every hunger games fan who has ever even HEARD of Rue knows that this won't end well...  
_


	14. Chapter 14

_WOOHOO NEW CHAPTER FOR THE GREATEST FANS IN THE WORLD!_

Chapter Fourteen

When we get to camp, they ask me many questions, like what did the dogs do, how did I escape them, how bad is my calf, and what I was doing up at night anyway. I answer each of their questions, and I think they're even impressed with my cleverness.

They all look pretty beat, so I take first look out shift while they sleep. They share two sleeping bags, girls in one, and boys in the other. The ask me what will I do when I need to sleep, and I say my cloak is warm enough. So, they all go to sleep almost instantly. After about two hours, I start getting a bit sleepy, but I force myself through it for another hour, until I can't take it much longer. I wake up Nettle, and we trade places. It takes a little while for me to sleep, but it works out later.

They wake me later, when the sun is up. After spending two nights awake, it's weird seeing sunlight and color. But my eyes adjust quickly. Humans were made for light, after all.

We start treading again, needing water. Luiz says that there is a stream nearby, and it turns out he's right. A small stream spurts up from the ground, and we fill up out canisters. A few drops of iodine, and it'll be perfect drinking water in no time. After 3o minutes of waiting (and joking from Luiz), we take a drink from our gallons, eat a little, and start off in the grasslands again.

We keep going for a long while, and it seems to be getting warmer by the minute. By noon, it feels like its 9o degrees.

"Why is it so hot?" Clare wipes sweat off her head.

"My mentor said that the Gamemakers can control what happens in the arena," Nettle says. "Like temperature, even weather. They can control animals, even breed them to be even more vicious than normal."

"Maybe that's why those dogs were so crazy," I think. "They pounced on me sometimes… like cats."

"Didn't they do that in the Dark Days?" Luiz asks.

"Yea," Clare nods her head. "Two years ago my district was attacked by these wolf things the Capitol made. They killed thousands of people."

"Mutts, they're called, I think," Eucalyptus states.

"Who cares?" I ask to no one. "We need to find water. With this heat, our supply is gonna go fast."

"True," Eucalyptus nods. The others agree as well.

"But we're probably miles away from the stream now," Luiz. "And even if we find it again, we can't just stay there all day. Someone will find us."

"Let's just keep going," Nettle shakes her head. And we start off again.

But it isn't easy, keeping a pace like this. We start slowing down, and the temperature starts rising even more. Whenever we take breaks for water, it's all we can do not to chug the whole thing. We're all dripping with sweat. The boys end up taking off their shirts to cool off. Clare uses a bandage to tie up her long brown hair to cool off her neck. I try my best to do the same, but my hair is pretty short, so it's not easy, but taking off my cloak definitely helps with the heat.

After about three hours of walking, we all collapse on the ground. Not a sign of forest shade anywhere, or a lake or stream. I feel like we're the last living things in the whole arena.

"Ugh…" Clare moans, fanning herself. "I think my brain just melted…"

"You had a brain?" Nettle asks her, half joking. Clare's respond is an evil glare.

"Dang mama…" Luiz is lying on the sun baked grass. "I've never felt so sweaty. I think that snot in my throat turned into even more sweat!"

"That's… so… gross…" my tongue is so dry it's hard so me to talk. I take out my gallon. It's almost empty, so I decide to save it for when I'm literally about to die.

"My tongue feels like sand paper," Eucalyptus holds his tongue with his hand.

"That's not natural!" I throw up my hands and then fall back onto the ground. Not a cloud in the sky. Just an evil, water sucking sun.

"Maybe if we eat fruit, we'll feel better," Nettle offers. "Cuz they have juices and-"

"You guys!" Clare jumps up onto her feat.

"What?" Luiz sounds annoyed, dragging out the "a" in "what".

"A lake!"

Well that gets out attention. We're all up and about. Clare points her finger to what she sees. And sure enough, it's a lake. A big ol' lake. Only a hundred yards away.

We all pack our things and start running over to the lake of life. Well, tripping is more like it, because we're so tired and thirsty it's hard for us to run. As we get closer, we all get faster. The wind from our running cools us off, too. We grin from ear to ear as we approach the lake and…

It's gone.

No water for miles around. Did the Gamemakers dry it up, just to mess with our heads? We surely would've seen it dry up, though. And the dirt isn't even damp. Sun caked grass, just like before.

"NO!" screams Luiz. He drops to his knees with sorrow. "IT CAN'T BE!"

"What happened?" Eucalyptus cried. "It was there a second ago!"

"Well, don't look at me!" Clare says. "You guys saw it just as much as I did!"

"We're not blaming you," Nettle says.

"IT CAN'T BE!" Luiz cries. "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Maybe we imagined it!" I say. "Maybe we were so thirsty we just thought we saw water!"

"No!" Luiz beats the ground with his fists. "I thought the Gamemakers were just messing with us! But the true enemy is… MYSELF! WHY?"

"This sucks," I fall down to the ground with despair.

"WHY?" Luiz keeps crying.

Eucalyptus goes over to Luiz and says, "Luiz! Calm down!"

"WE'RE DEAD!" Luiz keeps yelling. "WE'RE DEAD! WE'RE ALIVE BUT WE'RE DEAD!"

"Luiz!" Eucalyptus slaps Luiz hard across the face. "Pull yourself together, man! WE ARE NOT GOING TO DIE!"

Luiz seems to come back to reality, and nods quickly, looking a bit afraid of the teenager from District 12.

"How are these plants still alive?" Nettle gestures to the whole grassland. "It's like a hundred degrees! They should be at least WILTING!"

"Maybe there's water underground?" I shrug.

And even though we could be absolutely wrong, each of us starts digging into the ground with our bare hands. We dig for a while, but it turns out I was correct. There's water underground. Dirty water, sure, but water no less. We all splash our faces with the cool liquid, and then fill up our canisters. We need to put twice the number of iodine in it, and it takes a REALLY long time before its clear and pure, but it's worth it. We all drink from my canister, so we save water. Then, our stomachs growl, and we eat a bird that Nettle shot.

"Whew," Luiz pats his stomach. "All we need is an AC, and I could live in this arena!"

Right on cue, the wind picks up.

"Oh, yes!" Eucalyptus says. "Finally, something goes right!"

"Thank you!" Clare calls out to the sky.

"Yes, thank you Gamemakers!" Nettle yells as well.

I smile and yell a thank you to the Gamemakers as well, but then, I feel a little dread. Gamemakers are here to kill 23 teenagers, and have one victor. They want to give the audience a good show. And a good show isn't five kids eating a bird or finding water or cooling off in the breeze. A good show is guts and gore. I haven't heard one canon fire last night or today. It must be at least 2 o'clock. The audience is getting bored.

I notice the wind is picking up even more.

"Uhm… you guys?" I say. "Not to be a downer, but don't you think it's a little weird that the Gamemakers are HELPING us? Y'know, there hasn't been a single canon fire and…"

The wind is going extremely fast now. Our hair is wiping around like tree branches in the breeze. It's so fast, in fact, that it hurts a little.

"Okay," Clare has to shout just to be heard. "This is getting a little strange."

The wind picks up even more. We have to scream just to faintly hear each other. More and more. It feels like it's pulling us back. We hold onto our things so they don't blow away. More and more and…

It stops.

"That was weird…" Nettle makes a face.

"Most pointless ear bleed I've ever received," Luiz rolls his eyes. When he touches his ear, it is, in fact, bleeding. So are the rest of ours.

"Maybe that was supposed to blow us away?" Eucalyptus shrugs. "Or our stuff so we would die?"

"Maybe," I say. Then I notice something behind him. Maybe fifty yards away. I point to it and say, "Uhm, what's that?"

The older kids look, and they're just as confused as I am. It seems to be coming closer to us, and we hear sharp wind noises. That's when we realize…

"It's a twister!" Nettle screams.

We all grab our things and start sprinting away, but when I look back, the twister is getting faster and larger. It picks up all the dirt and grass, and I scream at the others to go even faster. Everything is starting to get dark from all the dirt flying around, so the sky is now a muddy brown. We're going as fast as we can, but that thing is huge. It's catching up quick, especially on me, since the others are older and faster. The wind is pulling me back… tugging so hard I feel as though my hair and clothes will be ripped off of my body. The others are so much farther in front of me, at least six yards ahead. They're heavier than me, so they can fight the wind. While I'm more like a leaf clinging onto a branch in the wind. When I move my feet, they don't touch the ground. I'm running in the air, and I realize that there's nothing I can do.

I stop fighting it and let myself into the tornado.

I have no idea how high I am. I could be a foot off the ground, or 2o feet high. I'm jerked around like a piece of paper. I try to look around and guard myself from anything like rocks (or other tributes), but there's too much dirt. I'm forced to keep my eyes shut, and whenever I call out, a mouthful of dirt and grass is my gift. The wind hurts every part of my body, and it's so powerful, I'm spinning around with the tornado. I soon become dizzy, and my nose is full of dirt. I can barely breathe. I can't see, I can yell out to my friends, I'm being torn apart like a piece of paper, and my head is pounding from everything. And I can't breathe. The girl with wings, flying around during the parade is being killed by air. What a laugh the audience must be having.

Suddenly, my body is jerked in an extreme, unnatural way, and I feel the wind getting farther away, and I'm falling. I open my eyes and take a big gulp of air, when I realize I'm falling 15 feet. The sensation of falling, of being weightless and powerless. It feels like an hour, but really, it must be only seconds, and I crash down onto the ground, and it suddenly feels like gravity has started working again at full force on me.

Everything hurts. I didn't know pain like this could exist in every part of my body all at once. I can barely lift my head, but when I do, I see that the tornado is heading away from me, so I can relax. I wonder where my friends are. There's no doubt I'm on screen all across the world. There's no doubt that Willow is watching… or maybe she is covering her eyes because she can't bare to watch…

But those thoughts are soon taken over by how much pain I'm in, especially my head. Oh, my head… I rest it back down on the muddled up dirt and grass. But the pain is starting to sink away… and I feel myself rising… rising up to the sky on a cotton candy cloud… everything is bright from the smiling sun, and there's no pain. It's all dulled from the sun and the sky and the cloud… I wonder if this is something the Gamemakers made… so tributes can die… I bet the cloud is poisoned… I'm getting sleepy, or is that death? Oh, who cares? Willow will only think I'm sleeping… that's okay… sleeping… Everything starts spinning as I close my heavy eyes… spinning…

And then the darkness takes over as I black out.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

Everything's dark when I feel a jab in my gut.

I want to open my eyes, but everything is so heavy… I wish I was back on that cloud. How did I survive? It was surely poisoned.

I can hear voices, but they are so quiet. Barely whispers… as quiet as thoughts. Either I'm dead and that's just how things work here, I've gone partially deaf, or I have too much dirt in my ears. But they're getting louder, though echo-y, and I can tell they are my friends… I wish I could move and tell them I'm okay. But… things are so heavy…

"You think she's dead?" I can hear Luiz.

"No, man, there was no canon fire!" Eucalyptus exclaims. "She's probably unconscious or something…"

"Well, then lets leave her!" Clare suggests. "Waiting around for her to wake up will make us easy prey. She'll probably die anyway…"

"We can't just leave the poor girl!" Nettle protests. "She's only 13! And she's our friend." Good ol' Nettle.

"That is true," I can imagine Clare nodding her head.

"Poke her again!" Luiz says. "Maybe she'll wake up faster!"

Another poke. This time much harder. And again. But with each poke, not only do they get more annoying, they seem to make the heaviness go away… until…

"Uhhhh…" I moan, and I feel my head roll.

"IT'S ALIVE!" Luiz screams.

"Shut up! Someone'll hear!" Eucalyptus shushes.

I put my hand on my forehead to make it stop throbbing, but it only helps a little. I groan again.

"I am dead?" I moan as I open my eyes. Everyone is looking down upon me.

"Far from it!" Clare is all smiles.

"Where's the tornado?" I struggle to sit up.

"It stopped half an hour ago," Nettle says. Her bright green eyes look relieved. No doubt she's my friend. "I can't believe you were sucked in! We didn't realize until we looked back and you were gone!"

"Yea, why didn't you say something?" Luiz asks.

"Too much dirt… not enough space…" I cough.

"And then we say this teeny tiny little speck fly out from the twister!" Clare says. "And then we realized it was you! You were almost 2o feet off the ground! And then you fell. Pretty hard."

"Yea…" I nod, even though it makes the throbbing worse. "Then a cloud lifted me up, and there was a pretty sun. I think the cloud was poisoned. Then I fell asleep, and then I woke up here."

The others raise their eyebrows with confusion.

"A cloud?" Eucalyptus questions. "There was nothing like that."

"And you did not fly up and go to sleep!" Luiz says. "You just laid there. It looked like you died."

"What?" I'm really confused now. "No cloud? But, I felt it! It made the pain go away! And then I fell asleep with the sun and the sky and-"

"I think you hit your head a bit too hard from that fall," Clare says.

"Insane in the membrane," Nettle nods.

All I say is "Oh", but really, I'm kind of disappointed. It was pretty nice up there…

Nettle says that we should probably get out of here (who knows if there's another twister coming?) and we all start treading off. It's hard for me to move, my head feeling like it is trying to squeeze itself out of my eyeballs, and my body sore all around, but I try to keep up. When the others realize that there's no way I can keep this up for much longer, we all settle down. Clare takes out a sleeping bag, and I crawl into it. I feel like a total baby, like I let down the others for not toughening it out. Maybe so, but I still fall asleep as soon as I lay my head down.

_before i forget... someone story alerted me! (i dont know what that means, but i think that might be good) khowieXOXO! WOO! i did a little dance when i got the message_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	15. Chapter 15

_you know how a few chapters ago i said i would post every friday?_

_yea...  
_

_IT'S NOT WORKING OUT  
_

_see, i like getting reviews, so, i always get impatient to post new chapters, because if i post more, i may get more reviews! (btw i got one by khowieXOXO... it was so nice! thanks so much! (that aint sarcasm))  
_

_btw, i keep seeing new stories that are also about the first hunger games... i personally never have seen stories like that before i started posting, so i get annoyed whenever i see one. i know i shouldnt care, because everyone has their own vision, and i probably have had nothing to do with any of the recent postings, but i still get irked...  
_

_o, well.  
_

_ENJOY THE NEWEST CHAPTER OF LET THE GAMES BEGIN!  
_

Chapter Fifteen

The anthem startles me.

I open my eyes and look up at the sky. One death today. Luiz's district partner. We all try to comfort him, but he just doesn't say anything. He just crawls into the other sleeping bag and pretends to be asleep. The others offer me some food, but I am not hungry. Almost dying tends to make one loose their appetite. So Eucalyptus crawls in with Luiz, and Clare with me while Nettle uses my cloak as a blanket.

Everyone is asleep in minutes, except for me. Instead I decide to take "watch" and grab my glasses and look up at the sky. There are millions of stars, but they feel unfamiliar. Sometimes, when Willow and I couldn't sleep, and there were no bombings or fighting, we would stare up at the sky and make pictures out of the lines they seemed to create. Willow is too young to make up anything creative, so normally she would say, "That's a smiley face" or something like that. I could see pictures, like horses or trees or sometimes even people. If Willow wanted me too, I would make up a story using the stars. Then, the next night Willow would try to find the same story I made up. It didn't work out for her too well.

After years of doing that, I got familiar with the stars, like my brain took a picture of their patterns. But I have a feeling these stars, the ones in this damned arena, are only projections. Pity, they look so nice, too…

But I try to make a story anyway. One pattern kind of looks like me, a sloppy circle for a head with short lines coming off it (for the hair, of course) and lines for my limbs and torso. Then there's a wild dog that attacked me, looking like its pouncing in its strange way, and I see the girl from District 1, holding up a knife above my head. Nettle holding a bow, Clare smiling, and Eucalyptus slapping Luiz. I see the tornado that almost killed me, and the Cornucopia. Everything seems to reflect the games. I wonder if the Gamemakers did that on purpose. Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Two hours pass while I make pictures, and then I wake up Clare so she can take watch. I give her the glasses and lay down.

I just won't go to sleep. What is wrong with me? Maybe if I count the stars I can bore myself to sleep.

It works… but it still takes 26o stars for me to do so.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

The first thing we have to do when we wake up is look for water. This is starting to annoy us. It's the same joke all over again. I'm starting to actually wish that the Gamemakers would make an earthquake or something, just to makes things a bit less boring. Not that I have a death wish or anything. I'm just saying!

We start treading (again) and it's getting hot (again). Why are they doing this? This happened yesterday. Aren't they going to shake things up or something? Maybe there's a really good fight going on now… and their just making it hot to make us annoyed. Well, it's working. Luiz and Clare can't stop complaining, and Nettle, Eucalyptus and I are actually letting them.

"My mentor told me that being picked to participate in the very first Hunger Games was an honor," Eucalyptus says, looking at the boiling hot ground. "I always tried to believe him. It was always hard… because with the training and them pretty-ing me up didn't make me feel honorable. More like a show dog. But I kept trying."

I can't tell if he's talking to us, or the heat's just getting to him and he's talking to himself.

"And now?" I ask him anyway.

"I'm starting to think that being in the Hunger Games is more of a cruel joke instead of an honor."

No one says anything, but no one needs to. It's obvious everyone agrees.

I wonder if they're showing this, or it's being censored.

But honestly, I could care less.

We tread on for another hour, and our water supply is almost out. Again. The heat is intense. I feel my anger bubbling up, and my thoughts are frantic and sharp. I only feel hate.

But then I hear animals.

Everyone stops. They hear it too.

"What's that?" Clare asks.

"Animals," Luiz says. "Weird. I haven't heard an animal in… so long."

"Yea," I agree. It's weird. I'm normally surrounded by them… but they sound so foreign.

"You think it's an attack?" Nettle asks, her brow scrunched together.

"No," I say. "I think they're just… y'know, makin' noises."

"Eew," Clare makes a face.

"Well not that way."

Eucalyptus squints at the horizon. Then his eyes get wide.

"Water! With animals!" he says.

No one questions it. If we can hear them, they must be real. Or maybe we're just crazy. Anyway, it's the same joke all over again. We sprint over to the water. I'm about to say, hey, this is probably a joke, let's get out of here. But then I see real animals, drinking real water. The same animals that attacked District 11 when I was five, elephants, zebras, giraffes, all those things. But my father had told me that they're naturally calm, and don't eat meat like the others did, so I'm not afraid. Besides, if they're all together, just drinking water and chilling, it must be okay.

Unless it's a trap.

But we're filling our canisters anyway. Fill them up, drops of iodine, wait. Maybe we should be leaving… but this may be our last chance to see a tame version of these creatures. They're funny looking, and kind of cute, too. I especially like the zebras, the little striped horses. Their brown eyes are so adorable (except when they're looking at you like a meal… but that was 8 years ago).

Clare, Eucalyptus and Nettle had never seen creatures like these before, so Luiz (who was also attacked) and I start explaining what each creature is. Clare keeps laughing at the silly looking ones, like giraffes and elephants, and Eucalyptus and Nettle and giggling as well.

"Whoa…" Clare says. "What's that?"

"Huh?" Nettle asks.

Clare points to the water, and we see two glowing yellow eyes. I have no idea what they could be, and Clare, with curiosity, gets closer, until her face is inches from the water. The eyes are getting closer, too. Wondering, I start getting closer, too.

And that's when the crocodile's jaws burst from the water.

Alarmed, Clare and I jump back and scream. The other animals around us go into a frenzy and start running. Nettle, Eucalyptus and Luiz grab their packs and canisters and jump up. I grab mine, so does Clare. I get up and I'm about to run, and so is Clare, but she isn't fast enough.

The crocodile chomps down on her leg and yanks her back.

She's screaming now, not her normal frightened yelp, but a shrill, un-human scream. Her face masks pure terror.

I must help her. She helped me.

I grab her hand and try to pull her out of the crocodile's mouth, but it's yanking her around with full force. Her leg is stuck, and I can't get it out. I'm pulling and pulling, and I know that the other's are so far away from me…

The crocodile let's go for a split second, but then it chomps down again, harder, and farther up the leg. Clare can't stand anymore, and the crocodile is dragging me, too. Her leg makes a pool of blood in the once clear water. Clare is crying now.

"Go!" she screams.

I feel paralyzed, like I can't say anything or do anything, even though I want to. I notice another crocodile pouncing on the other side of the lake, and those animals start running away.

"It's a stampede!" Clare screams. I've never heard someone so desperate. "Get out of here you moron!"

But I don't let go of her hand.

"_GO!"_

I'm on autopilot. I don't want to, but I let go of her hand. I start running as the animals swarm around us. I look back at Clare, and she screams a high-pitched, broken cry, which is quickly cut off as I watch the crocodile shove its jaws into Clare's head.

Adrenaline runs through my veins and I start running faster than I've ever run before. The animals are right behind me, and they could easily trample me to death. There are so many noises, the stomping, the animals' barks and growls, my own screams.

And Clare's canon fire, of course.

I run, and run, and I can't think of anything but how scared I am and how there was a canon shot and those animals and Clare's dead and Clare's dead and _CLARE'S DEAD._

I can't run anymore. So I drop to the ground and cover my head and scream and cry while the feet and words and screams whirl around my head. I don't stay too long because I feel a hand grab the back of my shirt and pull me away from the stampede.

It's Nettle. And Luiz and Eucalyptus. I think they ask me what happened and if I'm okay but I just watch the animals run by until they're nothing but little dots in the horizon. I wish Clare was one of those little dots.

After the little dots are gone, I tell them that we need to get out of here. They know that she's dead, they saw her get attacked and they heard the canon. I wish that's all that I saw, too. But as we start running away from this gravesite, replays of what just happened whirl around my eyes. I wonder if the others see them too, or if it's just my imagination again.

I don't know what happens after that. I don't know. I don't know. I think the past and the present are blurring together or something… I can't tell if we're walking, or if I'm running away from that stampede, or if Nettle is asking me, hey, Yomato, need a break? I can't tell if I'm drinking water or still waiting for the iodine to clean the water, near the animals, with Clare still by my side. I can't tell if Luiz is wiping sweat off his brow or if he and I are still explaining to the others what an elephant is. I can't tell if Clare's dead or not or maybe I'm just crazy... maybe I'm just dreaming with the star pictures gazing over me, and Clare taking watch by my side.

But once things start to make sense again, the anthem plays. We're nearby a forest, and Nettle is putting away left over food. I have my cloak on, and Eucalyptus and Luiz are taking out the sleeping bags.

I look up at the sky, and I know whose picture I will see, but it's still a surprise. It's a surprise for everyone, I think. It's too dark, but I think Nettle might be crying. And Luiz. Normally, I would've laughed at that, but now I think I might start sobbing… no. Instead, I look at the picture, a memorize every detail of Clare's face, so I won't forget her face like I did with my father when he died. She has her happy, shiny blue eyes, long, straight brown hair, light skin, roundish face. The number six is underneath her picture, and once the anthem ends, her face flickers away and is replaced by the Seal of Panem. Now I'll never see her again.

Eucalyptus takes first watch, and I crawl into the sleeping bag with Nettle. Sleep is instant, but it isn't peaceful. Just more replays. I never knew my mind could be as cruel as the Gamemakers.

And after each nightmare, I wake with a start. Each time it is dead silent, but I can still hear Clare's desperate scream buzz in my ears.


	16. Chapter 16

_disclaimer:_

_i do not hate baby elephants.  
_

_(that'll make sense once you read the chapter... just put that down for y'all to know)  
_

_anyway, i forgot to update on friday, but luckily for you, this chapter is seven pages long on Word size 14 font... so you get a longer chapter! YEY!  
_

Chapter Sixteen

I wake up in the morning, but still, I am tired. Everything that happened yesterday is blurry now, instead of crisp and clear, like all I can remember is that Clare is dead and it's all my fault.

It's breakfast time, but when we take out our food we all finally realize that we're low. All we have is a loaf of bread, one leg of groosling and the last two fruit that I picked during the very beginning of the games.

"Great," Nettle rolls her eyes. "Clare was the one who kept most of the food. Now it's at the bottom of a crocodile infested lake."

"As poop or in the crock's stomach?" Luiz asks.

"Holy moondrop," I roll my eyes. I'm not really in the mood for Luiz's jokes.

"Well it wouldn't have just eaten her!"

"Aw, gross," Eucalyptus makes a face as he picks up the bread. "This bread is all fuzzy!"

Luiz, Nettle and I inspect the bread. Yup, Eucalyptus was right. There's blue fuzz all around the left side of it, and when Nettle rips open the bread, there's more fuzz.

"Aw, man!" Luiz throws the bread into the forest.

"Great," Nettle rolls her eyes again. I'm worried that if she keeps doing that, they'll get stuck. "Just one leg of bird and two mushy fruits."

"Guess this is why they call it the 'Hunger Games'," Eucalyptus sighs.

"Who cares?" Luiz throws up his hands. "We'll find more! Did you see all those animals at the lake? We can just hunt something! SO QUIT BEING A BUNCH OF BABIES!"

"He's right," I agree. "Besides, there are only 11 of us left! WE'RE SURVIVORS! We can do this!"

"Right!" Eucalyptus smiles.

"Bring it," Nettle smirks.

"So let's go hunting and quit being a bunch of lame losers!" Luiz shouts. We all whoop in a fist pumping, champion howl, until we realize where we are. Then we stop immediately.

Once we pack our things, we head into the forest, like the natural predators we are.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

We've been waiting behind trees and bushes for at least an hour, and there still has not been one animal that's crossed our path. This is a jungle! Where are all the animals?

"Ugh," Nettle whispers, putting down her bow. "These Gamemakers are starting to really annoy me."

"How is this entertainment?" Luiz makes a face. "We're just sitting here!"

"They're probably making a stampede or something," I shrug, putting down my knife. "I don't know."

Then we hear loud crashing.

"Uh oh," Luiz whispers. "It's probably the fatto's themselves… VELVETEEN AND ARES!"

Eucalyptus and Nettle stifle a laugh. But I honestly have no idea what he's talking about.

"What?" I ask.

"Velveteen is the girl from District 1," Eucalyptus explains. "Ares is the huge guy from 2. The others are Jewel from 1 and Robin from 2."

"Ohhh," I say. I hope it's not actually Velveteen. That girl gets on my nerves, trying to kill me… y'know, stupid girl things.

Anyway, the crashing gets louder. Twigs and branches and bushes (oh my!) are being broken this way and that. It gets louder and louder until we see… the ferocious… the terrible…

Baby elephant.

It's probably 6 months old from the size of it. It's huge brown eyes look scared; it must be lost.

"It's dinner time!" Luiz whispers, making that crazy and hilarious face when he's determined.

"What?" Nettle whispers back to him. "We can't eat a baby elephant!"

"Yea, man," I agree. "That could be bad for our health."

"No!" Nettle glares at me. "It's only a baby!"

"Who cares?" Luiz looks actually mad. "My uncle killed an elephant mutt during the Dark Days, cooked it up, and he's still alive and well! Besides, we're only teenagers, but that didn't stop Mr. Cable from putting us in this arena, now, did he?"

"He's got a point," Eucalyptus nods his head. "And I'm starved."

Nettle glares at us.

"Hey now, sassy," I put up my hands. "You can eat the furry bread if you don't want elephant stew!"

Nettle makes a face, but agrees to help.

We start surrounding the baby elephant behind the bushes and trees, but its young age and big eyes don't fool us. Its big ears cock up, listening to our movements. It makes a scared little whimper, and I start feeling bad for trying to kill something so sweet. But of course, I remember its sweet meat, and it's either him or me, so I think I'll go with me.

Eucalyptus gives me the signal, and I sprint toward the elephant and jump on top of him.

The little guy goes berserk. He jerks me this way and that, and I'm starting to think that maybe that twister wasn't so bad after all. He screaming, though it sounds a lot like a trumpet, and I'm trying to get my knife at a good angle to just kill the little brat. Then, he starts running out of the forest once Nettle starts shooting arrows at him. I'm getting really annoyed. C'mon, little guy, resisting will just make it worse! WE'RE ONLY TRYING TO EAT YOU!

I grab him by his little tusks, and I'm riding him like the ancient cowboys! But this isn't a rodeo. I hold onto my knife and start to stab his head, but the little monster is too strong, so I keep missing. But the stabs are weakening him. And with the help of Nettle's arrows, breakfast is served.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

"Oh…" Luiz pats his stomach. "That was a good meal…"

"Yes it was…" Eucalyptus agrees, still chewing the last of his leg.

We had just finished eating our cooked baby elephant. And boy, did we cook it. Forget the Capitol's goods, whatever elephants eat sure do makes yummy little babies. Luiz and Eucalyptus took part of one of the legs, and Nettle and me took some ribs. Now, I'm making a necklace out of some of its bones and grass. It looks pretty nice.

Then, we decide to pack up and get going (right after we check our water first, of course). We head into the jungle, and I'm overwhelmed with thoughts of Clare. Like every little thing reminds me of her… like the sky is blue, and Clare had blue eyes and I wish she was still here. I wish I could take back all of the mean thoughts I thought when I first met her…

And then they attack.

Districts One and Two, getting up from their hiding places, and swinging knives and axes at us. How could we not have seen it? All four of us making so much noise… they must have heard us and waited for the kill.

Nettle starts shooting arrows at Ares, while Eucalyptus fights against Velveteen with his sword. That leaves Robin and Jewel running after me and Luiz, and we run right out of the jungle.

Instinct. That's what drove us to run away, ditch our friends, our allies, our only hopes. That's why we left them to the two worst of that group. I look back, and see that Robin is closing in on Luiz. I yell at him to go faster, but she's too close, and throws the knife at his shoulder.

He yelps in pain, like a wild animal, like the little elephant we just ate. Now we're the elephants. Robin jumps onto him, and he falls. He will surely die. Jewel grabs my cloak and pulls me back. I fall, too. He's about to jump on me, but I roll away, jump up and run to Luiz. Robin holds a knife above his head, and more instinct courses through my veins. I jump on top of her, pushing her away. Then I start bashing my fist against her head, and Jewel grabs me and throws me to the ground. I hit my head against a rock, and suddenly everything is so dizzy… the ground is rocking back and forth. But I have to keep going. Luiz is wounded, that knife got him good. I see him, on the ground, trying to crawl away from the others.

I shake my head, trying to clear the rockiness, and run straight toward Jewel and Robin. They expect me, though, and Robin smacks me away, while Jewel tries to finish off Luiz.

I can't keep going like this. A 13-year-old, fighting two 17 and 18 year olds, trying to protect another older teenager. But I can at least try…

Robin grabs her knife, and starts swinging it at me, and I dodge as best as I can, but then I remember my own knife. I grab it, get lucky and stab it in her shoulder. Then I push her to the ground, and run to Jewel.

Luiz has gotten up, and is dodging Jewel's attacks. I decide to use some of my special Capitol training, and throw my bloody knife at him. A bull's eye. Right in the heart. He falls to the ground, and starts coughing up blood. I hear Robin get up, and I run to Jewel and take out the knife. Then, I turn around, and shove the knife right in between her eyebrows. She falls backward, and when she hits the ground, two canons fire. Luiz is just staring at me, amazed, but kind of sad. Maybe because he's older than me and he's the one who's supposed to do the rescuing. He then falls to the ground, shaking, and I realize that's not why he's sad.

I run over to him, and see that blood is gushing out of his back. While I was distracted with one, the other must have cut him. He's shaking really hard now, and gasping for breath. His skin is white, and the pupils of his eyes are dilated with fear.

"Go to Nettle and Eucalyptus," his voice is shaking, and he sounds very hoarse.

Oh, yea. _They're _the ones doing the real fighting. The two biggest, meanest and ugliest tributes in the arena. But I can't leave Luiz… he'll die.

I have no idea what to do. I could lose Luiz, and help the others. But of course, then we could all die. I could save Luiz and the others… but then again, I'm no doctor, and he'll just slow me down. And die. And I'll be all alone.

Then I realize, that's the whole point of winning the Games.

I start to cry. I don't want to lose my friends, I don't want to be alone. But I don't want to die. I don't want my other friends, my friends at home, to watch me bleed to death or get killed by tornadoes or wild dogs or fat tributes with silly names. I don't want to kill, but I've already killed… haven't I?

Guilt over racks me, and makes me cry even more. Luiz starts to make shushing noises, even though I'm the one who's supposed to be helping him. I've killed two lives… two families scream vengeance. They scream for my blood. I'm not Ponyo Yomato anymore, the little girl from District 11, I'm a killer from some arena.

A killer who will help their friends.

I wipe my eyes, and tell Luiz to stay put and to not die. I grab my knife out of Robin, and start running to the forest. But Nettle and Eucalyptus come to me. They're bleeding so much, they're practically red. Ares and Velveteen are chasing after them, holding weapons covered with my friends' blood. Nettle screams at me to run, and I follow her. We run to the field where Luiz lays in his sticky blood. Ares and Velveteen see their friends, dead as my father, dead as Clare. Rage fills up their eyes. They must have thought those canon shots were Luiz's and mine. Surprise fills up Luiz's eyes, though, as he looks to the sky.

"Look!" he screams and points.

We all look, and a hovercraft is flying toward us. What could this mean?

They land, and people come out. They grab Jewel and Robin's corpses and take them inside the hovercraft. Rage fills us, every one of us. This is their fault. They're the ones who are making us suffer. In some sort of unison, we all charge for those people and attack them. They start to run away, but we keep going. Nettle starts shooting arrows at them, and Ares chucks an ax at one. Eucalyptus and I jump on them, and start pounding them with our fists.

Then, my body feels an electric current run through it, blurring my vision before I black out.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

I open my eyes, and my body aches. It hurts when I try to lift my head, but I do so, anyway. I rub my neck, and I look around. Ares, Velveteen, Nettle, Eucalyptus, Luiz. All passed out on the ground. The hovercraft is gone. So are the people. So are Robin and Jewel. They must have tased us or something, to make us stop. I look at the sky. It is night. We've all been out for hours. That must've been some taser.

Feeling anxious with my enemies sleeping soundly nearby, I wake up the others, and we all start to run away. Only when those fatties are miles and miles away from us do we realize that we could have killed them both, easily.

We all collapse to the ground, breathing hard, shaking. This day has easily been the worst of all our lives. Luiz looks terrible, he can barely keep his eyes open. Eucalyptus carefully takes off Luiz's shirt to tend the wounds.

"How is he?" Nettle asks. She looks exhausted.

Eucalyptus's face says it all. He says, "Not good. Not good at all…"

"What about you guys?" I ask them. They're still sticky with their blood. "You guys look terrible, too."

"Just slices," Nettle shrugs, and tries to smirk, but this one is just empty. "Not stabs or anything." Then she turns her attention to Eucalyptus. "What are you gonna do with him?"

"Probably wash away the blood," he says. "To clean it. But these are deep cuts… especially on the shoulder."

"Yea," Luiz croaks. "Not my best moment…"

Nobody laughs, though.

I rip off some more cloth from my cloak, and hand it to Eucalyptus, who pours some water on it and starts to wash away at the wounds. It must hurt really badly, because Luiz starts to moan. To calm him, I stroke his curly hair, which helps only a little. Nettle gets out some food, and starts to eat. I decide to eat later, with Eucalyptus and Luiz. If Luiz makes it, that is.

But he survives. The washing, I mean. The cuts ARE really bad. But, there's nothing else we can do but patch up the wounds and hope for the best.

I give Luiz my cloak to keep him warm, and we all crawl into the sleeping bags, Eucalyptus taking first watch. The anthem plays, and there's Jewel's face, then Robin's. My victims. Somewhere, in a land far, far away, two families are weeping for their children. Their friends are yelling at me, telling me that I am so cruel, and how could I have done this? Maybe they had girlfriends or boyfriends, who really thought that they had a chance, that _I _would've been their victim. I honestly wish I could redo that moment, that I could have found a way to spare their lives, so that they would be alive, and I would still be the little girl from District 11. But, then again… there would have been more torture, more worry, more Games. Perhaps I have sped up the Games, and the end is near, and the first ever victor will be crowned shortly.

But I don't want there to be a victor. I wish we could all be victors, that there could be a second place. That there could be a 24th place. So no one would die, so no one would be a killer. I don't want to kill anymore… of course, it was only self-defense, I was only defending my friend and myself… then again, they were, too…

I try to remind myself, that I'm not a killer, that I was only defending myself… only defending… I mean, I didn't actually think I would _kill _them…

Had I?


	17. Chapter 17

_YUS! SCHOOL IS OVER!_

_so i've decided to update :)  
_

_unfortunately... this one is... a FILLER!  
_

_basically character devolpement-ish stuff. idk.  
_

Chapter Seventeen

When we wake up, it's the same old routine. Eat cold food, drink water, go to bathroom, get packed and set off. Luiz claims he's feeling well enough to walk on his own, but I have a feeling he doesn't like playing the patient role. Though, I must say, he's holding up pretty well.

Murder thoughts keep rolling around. I wish I could repay Robin and Jewel, but I don't think there's a fair price to pay for murder. Should I die myself? That seems fair, but I don't want to die. Course, they didn't, either. Both of them, killed by a 13-year-old. How humiliating. The Capitol people must have been laughing very hard at that.

To keep myself from thinking those negative thoughts, I just randomly blurt out, "So, what do you guys do in your districts?"

Luiz rolls his eyes, and says, "We throw axes at trees."

"We fish," Nettle says.

"The grown ups mine coal," Eucalyptus says. "And we kids try to not starve to death."

"I know _that," _I roll my eyes. "I mean, what do you guys do for fun?"

Nettle makes a face, her thinking face, and says, "If we have enough time… we swim, I guess. It's pretty fun, because if you go out far enough, you can see coral reefs and stuff. Sometimes you can swim with sea turtles, too."

"What about you guys?" I say to the boys.

They think for a little, and Eucalyptus says, "We dance."

We all look at him with wonder.

"Dance?" Nettle repeats.

"Yea," Eucalyptus says. "In the winter. Lots of us. Because it gets, you know, really cold, and we have nothing else to do, so we dance. Keeps us warm, and it's pretty fun." He grins.

"How cold?" I ask him.

"You know, it snows," he looks at me, like, _duh._

"Oh," I say, amazed. "I've never seen snow."

"Do you ever have snow ball fights?" Luiz asks.

"Sometimes," Eucalyptus says. Fights? If we had fights in District 11, we'd get shot.

"What about you?" Nettle asks Luiz.

"We throw axes at trees," Luiz says dully.

"Wow," Nettle smirks.

Luiz shrugs. "As long as you don't hit anyone in the head, it's kinda fun, actually."

I hope he's kidding.

"What about you, Yomato?" Nettle says to me. "You have any fun at all in that big ol' District of yours?"

Hmm. I have to think about that one. What do we do for fun? Let's think the obvious first. We farm during the summer for harvest, we starve to death, we go to school… recess?

"Uhm," I say. "I don't know. We run around during recess. That's kinda fun."

Man, that's no better than Luiz's! Think, Ponyo… our lives aren't THAT crappy, what do we do for fun?

Then I remember what we did during harvest.

"Oh!" I say. "I know. We sing!"

"Sing?" Nettle says. "That's worse than dancing."

"Nu uh!" I say. "It's really fun. When we're harvesting, we get bored sometimes, because picking rice of grabbing fruit all day isn't that exciting. So we sing songs, and the mockingjays sing along sometimes, too. It sounds really good when the whole field is singing, and the birds, too."

"The miners do that sometimes, too," Eucalyptus says. "We have canaries there, too."

"Why?"

"So if they stop singing, then we know something's wrong."

"Oh."

"What do you guys sing?" Nettle asks me.

"Songs," I shrug. "Some are really old. Some are just folksongs, and others are ones we found in files during the Dark Days. From these things called 'bands'. And sometimes we just make them up as we go along."

"Nice," she smirks.

"What's your favorite?" Luiz asks.

I think for a second, and say, "I like 'The Weeping Call'. It's about a man who finds his true love dead, hanging from the tree. And 'Safe and Sound', which is like a lullaby, only kind of creepy. There's another one, from a band that's older than Panem, the name of the song was smudged on the file, but I think it's about a woman who finds her love dead, but she's so insane from sadness she keeps on pretending he's alive."

"That's… pleasant," Luiz makes an awkward face.

Lucky for us, the rest of the day is very calm. So we can keep talking about home. Sure, it makes us homesick, even though our homes aren't much, but they're still home. Nettle tells us about the time when she was five, a few months before the Dark Days, when she was learning how to swim, and a sea turtle kept following her around and biting her chubby little behind. Luiz tells us about his cousin, Axle, and how he's always getting into trouble with the Peacekeepers because the trees always land right near them (if that happened to me in 11, I'd get whipped). Eucalyptus tells us that he has four brothers, Maxwell, Chives, Harrison, and Bruno, and two sisters, Lila and Maybelle, and he's in charge of keeping them in place while his father works in the mines. I don't have very happy stories about my District, so I just tell them about the rules and stuff. And from all their happy stories about 4, 7 and 12, I start to envy them. I wish I could do something fun without having to get whipped in front of everyone.

After today, I know so much about my friends. I know that both of Luiz's parents were killed in the Dark Days, so he and his sister have to live with his uncle and Axle. I know that Nettle's, like Luiz's, parents were also killed, and her older sister, Shelly, has to take care of her younger brother, Cedric, who's dying from tuberculosis, and Eucalyptus's family goes like this, a father, himself, a fifteen year-old brother named Maxwell and his Irish twin, Lila, Maybelle, who's my age, two ten year old twins named Harrison and Chives, and Bruno, who's only a year old. I know all of their favorite colors, their birthdays, and wishes that will probably never come true at this point. I know all of these things, and now I know that this is just going to make losing them harder than it was for losing Clare. I tried to distract myself from the pain, but all I've brought was more.

And now the Capitol has won.

_YEY! GO CAPITOL! WOO HOO! Y'ALL ROCK!_

_agh, sh*t, NO! i gotta stop doing that!  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer:_

_I do not own the YouTube account MainstayPro, nor do I own any of their videos. Please note that this chapter is heavily based off of the beginning of their short Hunger Games film "The Second Quarter Quell"  
_

_ALSO! please note that this story used to be called "LET THE GAMES BEGIN" but now it is the same title only without the all caps. I changed it because I was looking back at the rules and it said you can not have titles in all caps... and I do want my story to get deleted, so I changed it. Hope that's not too big of a deal for you guess.  
_

_Anyway, ENJOY!  
_

Chapter Eighteen

The next day, we wake up, and keep going. I have a feeling this day will be terrible, because unless yesterday there was an epic fight yesterday, the audience will be getting bored, and will accuse the Gamemakers of going soft.

As we walk, Luiz looks worse. He looked bad yesterday, but not this. He looks so tired, even though we let him skip out on taking watch last night. He looks pale, too, and it's hard for him to walk a long time. Jewel and Robin must have done a worse job than we thought.

We head up to a jungle (why do I get the feeling that we're going in circles?), and Nettle and Eucalyptus decide to go hunting, while I stay here with Luiz. It seems fair enough, and Luiz and I wait in the grass for a little while. And then I hear rustling in the grass before us. I tell myself that it's just a little critter, doing its little critter business, but the arena's given me a sense of fear that I just can't shake away. No matter how calm I am, I just am so scared at the same time.

"Stay put," I tell Luiz. "I'm gonna see what that is."

He says ok, and I start going toward the rustling. Knife in my hand, I quietly walk toward the noise. I look through the long, golden grass, and see the brown haired girl from 12.

She sees me, too. I feel more scared than I was with Ares and Velveteen, because this is the girl who got an 11. She can do all sorts of illegal things to me and get away with it.

Instinct takes over, and I scream, "LUIZ RUN!"

She swings her ax at me, but I run away just in time (when will my luck finally run out?). Luiz has already started running into the jungle, and he and I are both screaming for Nettle and Eucalyptus. They're not coming, though. The girl swings her ax at Luiz, and takes a hard hit to the leg, almost cutting it off. He grabs it, though, and throws it at her. She ducks, and it barely misses. I wish it didn't. For some reason, she doesn't grab the ax, but instead, she jumps on top of me and starts banging my head against a rock. I gather up as much focus as I can with my head being smashed, and spit in the girl's eye. She yelps, and I push her off of me. I grab the ax, and take a swing. She ducks again. I'm about to throw it at her again, but unfortunately, I remember Jewel and Robin. I can't kill her. So instead I scream for Nettle and Eucalyptus again, grab Luiz and start to run. I'm screaming even more, and I hear them come, and attack the girl. But I don't go back, I just keep going. Luiz's leg is barely sticking on. I can't stick around and risk more damage from that girl. I run as fast as I possibly can with a dying fifteen-year-old hanging onto my shoulders. Until the forest is far away and I collapse.

I look at his leg, and it's about to fall off. I mean, seriously. There's only a small amount of bone that's keeping it on. There's a lot of blood, too, but you already knew that, didn't you? There's no way I can fix this, no way anyone can fix this. He's shaking so much, breathing really hard, and I don't know what to do. But, he starts to calm down. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign. I realize too late, though, that it's a bad sign because he stops breathing after a minute.

There's no canon fire, so maybe I can fix him. I'm frantic while I listen to his heart that's stopped beating. I try to work it myself, pushing onto his chest with my hands.

"Come on, come on," I plead to him. I pump even more, and then listen to his heart. No beat. A canon fire, though. "Nooo," I whimper and nudge his shoulder. "Wake up, please, wake up."

I put my ear to his chest and listen again. Silent. I start to cry again. "I hate this… I hate this…" It's a quiet kind of cry, not that sobbing I got from being attacked by those dogs on the first night. I start to talk to myself, too, because that makes the situation seem a little less horrible. "I wanna go home," I whimper, resting my watering face in my palms. "I wanna go home."

I hear someone running toward me, and I look up and see the girl from District 8. She holds an ax, in her hand; she must have heard Luiz's and my screams. Now it's my turn to die. And then there will be only be seven left. I decide to get this over with, straighten my back like Bonita taught me and close my eyes. I imagine her coming closer, her hand with the ax raising, swinging at my neck…

Surprisingly, no pain comes. Just a canon fire.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Unfortunately, it's not mine. It's District 8's. I see her laying on the ground, an arrow in her neck. I turn around and see Eucalyptus, and Nettle with her bow. They don't look too happy at my attempt at suicide.

_"What are you doing?" _Nettle cries. "_Why didn't you run away?"_

"I-" I'm cut off.

"_And why did you run away from us?" _Eucalyptus yells. "_We needed your help in killing Jay!"_

So the brown haired girl's name is Jay. Huh.

"I needed to get Luiz out of there," I explain, gesturing to his disgusting leg. "It was all happening so fast…"

"We needed your help!" Eucalyptus looks furious. "Because of you, Jay got away and you were all most killed by 8!"

"I'm sorry," my shoulders sag again. I feel like I could cry once more. "I didn't mean to."

"You didn't mean to," Nettle says again. "How do you not mean to run away and try to commit suicide?"

I don't know what else to say but whisper "I'm sorry" again.

Eucalyptus sighs, closes his eyes, and then glares at me.

"Whatever," he mutters.

I get up, and say, "We should probably get going, since the hovercraft will probably be coming."

"Yea," Nettle says.

"No, you guys," Eucalyptus says. "I don't think we should go together anymore."

I let the words sink in, and they hurt.

"What?" I ask.

"Why do you say that?" Nettle doesn't like it anymore than I do.

"Because," Eucalyptus explains. "There are only seven of us left in the whole arena. And I don't want it to come down only to us."

Nettle quietly agrees, but I don't say anything. We split up the supplies, bid farewell and Nettle and Eucalyptus walk away, Nettle on the right, Eucalyptus on the left. I just sit back down, with the dead bodies. I stare at my two ex-allies, walking away until they are little dots. And soon those little dots disappear. Then the hovercraft comes, and they take away the dead bodies, and then they leave. Then I watch the hovercraft, too, until it's a little dot. And then that dot vanishes, and I'm alone.

So alone.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

I decide to go back to my original plan of going on during the night, and I use my backpack as a pillow, cloak on, and try to sleep. But it doesn't come. I take out my clip and look at it, but I think of other things. Like how I failed Nettle and Eucalyptus. They needed me and I left them. I notice how I'm the only one who didn't agree to splitting up. They must have planned that, taking revenge, abandoning me when I need them, just as I did to them. How dare they sink to my level. They didn't have to become as selfish as me. Nettle was even my oldest friend here. Why would she side with him and not me? Well, whatever. I won't be so stupid next time. If it comes down to me and her, I'll go with me. I'll hurt her physically the way she hurt me emotionally. Serves her right, anyhow.

Of course, maybe I should let her kill me, anyway. Maybe I deserve it. I abandoned Clare when she needed me, too. And I killed Robin and Jewel. Then again, Nettle just killed District 8, and I _did _try to save Luiz, so maybe they deserve it, too. Nettle's a killer just like me, and Eucalyptus is a stupid name, anyway, so it all evens out. Kind of.

An hour later, sleep does not come, but a canon fire is shot. Six left, now. I wonder who died. In a panic, I think of Nettle or Eucalyptus. I try to calm myself, telling myself that we're not allies anymore, but they were my friends, after all. I realize that I could never wish either of them death.

I look up at the sky. Holy moondrop, it's noon. I decide to start treading, since sleep will not come. I grab my pack, put on my climb and start going, and then I hear trumpets.

I jump at the sound. What's going on? I replay everything that's happened so far… did I actually fall asleep? Were more people killed during that time? Is it possible that there was an enormous battle yesterday, killing most of the remaining tributes, and that last fire signaled the final death? Am I the victor?

Apparently, not.

"Congratulations!" a booming voice from the sky says. "On you remaining six tributes!"

Is that it? Wow. Wait! Guess not, because he says, "And since food is running low, it is time for a feast!" _Huh?_ "For the feast, come back to the Cornucopia, and there will be food and supplies there. Already deciding not to come? Well, there will also be something you desperately need… hidden in a backpack with your District number on it. See you there!" Then what he says next chills me. "_The world will be watching!"_

Something I desperately need… what could that be?

Then I instantly know when I feel it come out.

Holy moondrop, not now…

_No, no, no, moondrop no! Why now? Why not later?_

Even though I know what will be there, I strip off my pants and underwear, and look. Yup. Right there, in the middle of my underwear. A big red spot.

I just got my period.

This is not fair! I feel betrayed by my own body. Here I am, in the middle of an arena full of gore AND _BLOOD__, _and then my body goes and decides that it's that time of the month again! Now I'll have to bleed even MORE. Not to mention I'll get cramps! Ugh! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!

This is probably the worst day of my life, which is really saying something. First, I'm attacked by a demon 14-year-old, then Luiz dies, then I'm attacked AGAIN, then Nettle and Eucalyptus yell at me for trying to save Luiz and then LEAVE ME, and then I get my period! Great! Just great! YOU HAPPY NOW, CAPITOL? IS WATCHING ME BLEED FROM MY PRIVATE PARTS ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOU? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO ACOMLISH… KILLING OFF MY FRIENDS AND THEN WATCHING ME GO INTO THE MENSTRUATIONAL CYCLE? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?

I sigh, put on my pants and start walking to where I came from, toward the jungle. I start to jog to make better time. Jog across the savanna, the jungle where that crazy battle two days happened, more savanna, and more jungle. The anthem plays, and I see Luiz's face, District 8, and then Eucalyptus's face. So that was his canon fire. I wanna say, serves 'em right, but I can't help but be sad. He didn't deserve to die. Maybe if we had stayed together, he wouldn't have. Oh, well. That's all in the past.

I eat, put on my glasses and keep going. It's hard to jog when you have cramps, but I make do. Past the wasteland where the tornado happened, more jungle, past the lake where Clare was killed (stay clear of that…), more savanna, more jungle, more lakes. I see a wild dog carcass, and I realize that was the one I killed the first night. I am close, and still have four hours to spare.

I keep going. Through the jungle, and then when I come out, I see that the gold grass isn't as high. And far away, I see the Cornucopia. Success. All in only a handful of hours. Funny how much you can accomplish without dramatic Clare's or stern Eucalyptus's or joking Luiz's or sassy Nettle's.

I should have never joined that group.

_yup, i went there.  
_

_btw, DAMN! when i left that cliffhanger, i was like, pfft, yea, they know she wont die. they know. but... it WORKED? I ACTUALLY MADE A GOOD CLIFFHANGER?  
_

_seriously, ur comments made me laugh. especially the one that asked me to redo my ending or the PM i got saying if it is the final chapter i should put it down as complete. I POINTED AND LAUGHED AT UR COMMENTS  
_

_well, obviously, dues ex machina saved Ponyo this time (but not from her time of the month) BUT WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT?  
_

_uhm, yea, that's all i really have to say.  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


	20. Chapter 20

_hey, guys! guess what... ITS FRIDAY!_

_so what does that mean...?  
_

_its time for a feast! yey!  
_

_btw, this is kinda based off of the actual feast in the original hunger games, since that was one of my favorite scenes in the whole series... and it kind of fit, i guess.  
_

_ENJOY!  
_

Chapter Twenty

I scope out the Cornucopia. The food isn't there! Neither are the backpacks. They must be waiting for 8 o'clock. Maybe they'll be rising up from the ground or something. I don't know. As long as I get my pads or tampons, I could care less if they come out of Velveteen's butt.

I use the rest of my hours to come up with a plan. There's some taller grass to the right of the Cornucopia, see, so I'll hide there until eight o'clock. Then, when the food and backpacks come, I'll sprint to my backpack, grab it, maybe some food, and then leave. I don't plan anything sceevy, like stealing another tribute's backpack or anything. That will just bring some gigantic lunatic after me. You know… come to think of it, I haven't stolen anything from another tribute in the Games at all. That was my original plan, too. Funny how that worked out. Whatever.

I hide in the grass. The sun is rising, and I take off my glasses. I focus all of my energy on running.

An hour later, the next person comes. Nettle. She sees me, and I see her, but we don't say anything. She doesn't attack me. I don't attack her. I just glare at her and then look at the Cornucopia.

Eight o'clock comes. I heard people coming, but no attacks. Luckily. I think all six of us are here. Weird… huge arena, six people left. Six murderers left, I mean. Can't forget that part.

I was correct. The backpacks and food _do _rise out of the ground. Once I hear the _click, _I know it's my time (besides my time of the month) and I jump up and sprint to the Cornucopia. I snatch my backpack, and decide at the last minute not to take food, and dash back before anyone can say, "LOOK THERE'S PONYO YOMATO!"

While I'm running back, I hear others go to the Cornucopia, and I don't care.

Until Nettle screams.

I look back, and I cringe. I don't know if she hit her head on a rock after we split up, or if she spent too much time with Clare, or if she's really not as smart as I thought, but I do know that she made a huge mistake. She took Ares's backpack. And now, he's pretty darn mad.

He grabs both of her arms, and she drops both of the backpacks. She squirming around, yelling, trying to get out, but it's the end for her. The audience must be on the edges of their seats, watching to see what I'll do, if I'll ignore it and move on, or risk everything and help her.

I don't know why, but I do the latter.

I shove my tiny backpack I got from the Cornucopia into my other backpack, grab some rocks and run toward Ares.

It's a distraction, not an attack. I just start throwing the rocks at Ares, and start screaming the words to some lullaby my mom sings to Willow when she's scared.

"YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE!" I scream as I throw rocks at the monster. "MY ONLY SUNSHINE! YOU MAKE ME HAAAAAPPYYYYYYYYY! WHEN SKIES ARE GREY!"

Ares glares at me, grabs one of the rocks I threw at him and slams it onto Nettle's temple. Then, he lets her fall to the ground, and starts to chase after me while I scream, "PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY SUNSHINE AWAY!"

I'm running as fast as I can. But he's faster.

"BUT THEN YOU LEFT ME," I'm still screaming for some reason… I can't seem to stop, because it kind of fits of what just happened to Nettle and a pain inside me that has nothing to do with my time of the month. "TO LOVE ANOTHER! YOU HAVE SHAAAAATERED ALL OF MY DREAMS! YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE! MY ONLY SUNSHINE! YOU MAKE ME HAAAAAAAPPYYYYYY! WHEN-"

Ares jumps on top of me, which in itself knocks the wind right out of me. He holds up another rock, and I know it's my turn now, too. I close my eyes, because now my sunshine is going to go away…

But the odds are still in my favor.

My District partner, the enormous Abu Currey, jumps onto Ares and pushes him off of me.

_"What are you doing?" _Abu screams, which scares me so bad, because I've never heard him talk above a mumble. Which is saying something, him being my partner and all. _"Why are you trying to kill her?"_

Apparently, Ares has never heard him speak above a whisper, either, because he looks pretty freaked out, too. In fact, he just stares but up at him, his mouth the shape of a big _O._

_ "Didn't your mama ever tell you not to pick on little kids?" _Abu keeps going. Suddenly, I have a feeling he's the only person left in the arena who isn't a murderer. _Yet_, maybe, because he looks like he might rip off Ares's private parts with that much anger.

"I… uhh…" Ares just stares at him.

"Ares!" I hear Velveteen yell from behind. I also hear her running towards us.

Abu grabs a large rock, the size of both my fists, and Ares, sensing the attack, gets his mind back together and jumps up. I can tell there will be an epic fight, and the audience won't want to miss it.

But I do.

I run over to Nettle, who has a dent in her skull. She's moaning, and her eyes are really big, like that dent has started to push them right out of their sockets. I grab her, and start to pull her away so those oxes won't trample her and kill her even more with their fight. I pull her into the tall grass, about ten yards away from the fight. Then I let Nettle down, and I sit down next to her, because I have a feeling she only has a few more seconds to live.

"Nettle," I speak quietly to her. "I'm sorry for abandoning you when you were fighting with Jay. I really am. And… I hope you know that you're one of the best friends I've ever had… even though me abandoning you or whatever didn't really make it seem like it. I'll miss you… and I'm sorry. For everything."

Nettle is gasping for breath, but she can make out two last words.

"It… kay…" she breathes out, and then her body goes limp and her canon fires.

I close her eyes and whisper goodbye, and then I start to run away.

Faster then I ran the first day of the Games. Faster then I ran when those dogs were chasing me. Or when Nettle and her gang were chasing me. Or when there was that stampede. Or during any event during the Games. I run away from her limp body like it'll take away the fact that she's dead.

I collapse when I enter the jungle nearby. And I start to cry… and I comfort myself by singing myself a lullaby. The first one that comes to my mind. It's hard to sing when you're sobbing, but Nettle's dead so who cares?

Not me.

_The other night, dear_

_As I lay sleeping_

_I dreamed I held you in you in my arms_

_But when I awoke, dear_

_I was mistaken_

_So I hung my head and I cried_

_You are my sunshine_

_My only sunshine_

_You make me happy_

_When skies are gray_

_You'll never know dear_

_How much I love you_

_Please don't take my sunshine away_

I start to calm down and stop crying a bit, making it easier to sing and breathe. Maybe so, the tears still come down.

_I'll always love you_

_And make you happy_

_If you will only say the same_

_But if you leave me_

_And love another_

_You'll regret it all some day_

_You are my sunshine_

_My only sunshine_

_You make me happy_

_When skies are gray_

_You'll never know dear_

_How much I love you_

_Please don't take my sunshine away_

_You told me once, dear_

_You really loved me_

_And no one else could come between_

_But now you've left me_

_And love another_

_You have shattered all of my dreams_

Now it starts to get worse as I sing those lines, like a big sob balloon just blew up in my chest and it makes it hard to focus. My throat hurts a lot from crying… tears blur vision, which is fitting because now my sunshine has gone away.

_In all my dreams, dear_

_You seem to leave me_

_When I awake_

_My poor heart pains_

_So when you come back_

_And make me happy_

_I'll forgive you, dear_

_I'll take all the blame_

It's getting so hard to sing, so I stop and start to take deep breaths. Once I'm calm, and no tears come, I finish the song in a hoarse whisper.

_You are my sunshine_

_My only sunshine_

_You make me happy_

_When skies are gray_

_You'll never know, dear_

_How much I love you_

_Please don't take my sunshine away_


	21. Chapter 21

_I wasn't going to update today, but my best friend Cammie, the editor of this story, told me that she sent in a book she wrote and it's being published!_

_Which is fricken epic  
_

_Anyway, THIS IS FOR YOU, CAMMIE!  
_

Chapter Twenty-One

I didn't realize that I fell asleep when I awaken and it's dark.

The anthem plays, and I climb up I tree to look at the sky. Ares, of District 2, dead. Nettle Hathworth of District 4, also dead.

I'm surprised that no one killed me in my sleep. They must have saw me run away, and they would've heard me crying and singing. How mad I must have looked, crying and singing some dopey little song. Whatever.

I put on my glasses, and take off my underpants. Caked with blood, no way I can wear these. I open my little backpack from the feast, and see that as well as pads, it also came with a package of new underwear. I put them on, and I need to get used to the feeling. I haven't worn something this clean in days.

How many, exactly? More than five, obviously. But how much more? Have we been here a week? Two? More? Maybe not more. Maybe about a week and a half. Maybe. I can't remember. I hope it wasn't that little time. I don't want to think we actually killed 2o people in less than I week. Well, I guess the Capitol has done more damage than that in a day. Whatever.

It feels weird. I'm the youngest of all of the tributes, and I've made it to the final four. When will my luck finally run out?

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

I start treading through the jungle. I feel strangely calm, but not in a happy, relaxed way, but in an empty way. Like I'm an egg, and Nettle dying cracked my shell, and now I know what's truly underneath it. Nothing. Nothing at all. I'm just an empty shell, a ghost, no, not even that. I'm nothing. Just air… which is fitting since I was the one who flew around during the parade. In fact… I think everyone was trying to help me get out of the shell during my Games prep, trying to create the beautiful swan I'm supposed to be, so I can fly away and be safe forever. But now that they've broken me, they see who I really am. A nothing.

Maybe there really was a swan under my shell, but all these cuts and bruises must have sucked her out of me. Good going.

I tread for hours, and when that emptiness wells up in my chest so much that I can't take it, I decide to take a break. This must be the largest jungle in the whole arena, since I haven't found a way out of it yet. I lean against a tree, and try to relax.

I stay for fifteen minutes, at least, when I say to myself, "Okay, Ponyo, it's time to get up", and I realize I can't. I feel so tired and I don't really feel like doing anything at all.

I just lay there, for an hour more. I need to get up, but I think my body shut down or something, because no matter how much I want to, I just feel so exhausted and don't move. I haven't felt like this since my father died.

Then, I hear rustling. I don't move. Whatever or whoever is making that noise can come and get me for all I care. But when I listen more closely, I freeze in my tracks, because that's not rustling, that's hissing. And you know what that means.

Snake.

I don't like snakes. Not at all. In fact, they kind of scare me. Their beady black eyes, the fork tongues, and their rough scales, they all remind me of dangerous lizards, only limbless. How a creature can move so fast without any arms or legs scares me, too. Worms don't have limbs, and neither do slugs, and they can't move more than 2 miles per hour. Snakes break the laws of nature, and I thought only the Gamemakers could do that.

I jump up, and try not to make any sudden movements. My father had once told me that doing so provokes them, which may or may not be true, but I've got no better idea of what the moondrop I should do.

Sure enough, a snake comes out from behind a rock. Its eyes are locked onto me, and they look like black holes. My father had also told me some are harmless, but others are very poisonous, or vicious, or very large. The large ones, he told me, usually rap around your neck and then squeeze until you cannot breathe and then you die. Then they eat you whole. But this one isn't large at all, only two feet long, probably. My father also told me on rare occasions they have two heads…

I'm probably not helping myself by think these thoughts, am I?

_ Calm down, Ponyo, _I tell myself. _You have to think. It's not large, so it won't suffocate you and eat you whole. It doesn't have two heads. That leaves vicious and poisonous and harmless. It's probably not harmless if it's looking at you like that… and besides, you can't really trust any animals in the arena. So it's either poisonous or vicious. Or both. Holy moondrop… Dah! Focus. Just back away slowly…_

I back away slowly, so slow I barely move. The snake slithers over toward me as I move, so I instantly stop. I make a high pitched, short "eek!" sound and I actually pee a little… just a little squirt, but I squirt a lot of blood right after. Eew…

Oh moondrop oh moondrop oh moondrop… What am I going to do? I can't stab it, because its reflexes are faster then mine… I can't run… I can't even walk away in slow motion… Wait… snakes are meat eaters, right? I have some meat in my pack, so maybe I can reach up and give it some, distracting it and then I'll run away! So, I start to reach up ever so slowly to my pack, but the snake's sharp _hiss_ scares me so badly I jump and drop my pack.

Provoked, it instinctively lunges for me and sinks its fangs into my flesh.

It hurts so badly, and it surprises me so much, I start screaming and shaking my leg to get it to let go of my calf. I must provoke it even more, because it lets go and then bites me two more times. I get lucky and shake it off and then kick it in the head. I don't check to see if I killed it or not, I just start running away without even taking my pack.

I sprint for a few minutes, but then the ground starts shaking. I stop and stumble back and forth, but then I realize it's not the ground, it's me. My head is pounding and I'm so dizzy, not like when I hit my head after the tornado, it's like how you feel if you were on a boat during a large storm, only inside your head. I try to shake away the dizziness, but it's so bad I have a hard time standing. A few seconds later, my eyes start to blur, and my stomach feels queasy. I try to walk to what I think is a tree to steady myself, but I stumble so much I trip on something, a root a think, and then I fall. I throw my hands out in front of me and catch myself, and then the queasiness gets so bad that my stomach lurches, just like my body did, and I start to throw up.

I can't stop myself, I just puke everything out. My throat burns, and my eyes start tearing up, blurring my vision even more. My stomach feels like it has been tied up in knots, and it thinks by vomiting it will untie those knots. But it doesn't work, yet my stomach won't take a hint. It empties everything out. Once it has, I try to relax, taking in deep breaths, which hurts my burning throat. I try to spit out the sour taste of the digestive juices that remain in my mouth, but then my stomach lurches even more. I throw up again, and even though my vision is burred, I can tell by the color of what I'm throwing up. It's bright red. I'm puking up blood.

The red stuff comes out with two mouthfuls, and luckily, it stops. I try to wipe away the blood from my mouth, but I'm shaking so hard that it's impossible for me. That snake was clearly poisonous.

Then, the dizziness gets worse, so bad that I collapse. My head lays in my vomit and blood, but I don't care. I can barely feel the sliminess when my head is already pounding so hard. And I just lay there, in my own bodily fluids, shaking so hard it must be a seizure. Flies start to swarm around my head and the vomit, which bothers me at first, but then I see something falling from the sky. It's silver, but since I can't see that well I cannot make out what it is. It falls slowly, and I can't think of any reason why something sliver would fall from the sky, and it's not just because my brain is melting.

I just lay there, shaking, and then the word forms very clearly in my muddled up mind. Instructions follow with the word, almost unconsciously. I know what that thing is.

_Parachute._

I gasp. The breath is so hard that it gives me strength to sit up, but almost instantly that strength goes away. I crawl over to the parachute, which in itself is nearly impossible since I'm shaking as hard as my heart is racing. But I make it, and shakily grab the parachute. I feel for the thing at the bottom since my vision is basically made up of colors and blobs now. It feels like a plastic bottle with a rough cap. It shakes in my hand, and I can feel the liquid inside it sloshing around in it. I have to drink it, I think.

I start twisting the cap, and when it opens I shakily pull it up to my lips. I chug it down, and it tastes vile. Like it just drank the most-bitter fruit in the world's pee. I chug it all down, because though my mind is whirling around, I still know it wouldn't be smart to send a half blind girl with a pounding head some medicine that requires looking at how much to take.

Once I finish it, I fall back to the ground, and almost instantly, my heart stops beating as fast, and the pounding in my head vanishes. I'm not shaking as much, only slightly, which is probably because I'm so scared. Then, my vision clears. Once I'm calm enough, I sit up, and grab the parachute and bottle. The bottle is just plain white, but I have a feeling that this might be some of the most expensive medicine in the Capitol if it cured me so fast. Either that or all medicine there works like that.

I collapse onto the ground, and realize that I don't have my pack, and I can't remember which way I came from. That means I have no food, no water, no iodine to purify the water, and no pads. In fact, all I have left are my cloak, my glasses, my knife on my belt, and the clothes on my back. All because of that snake.

Stupid snake.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

I continue walking through the jungle. I'm tired, not like I-want-to-go-to-sleep kind of tired, but more of an achy, worn out kind of tired. I honestly wish the Gamemakers would just kill the other three and let me go home, because I'm sick and tired of this whole thing.

And while this tiredness hangs on my body like I was just dunked in water, I can't help but wonder something.

_Why hadn't Hermes helped me earlier?_

It's not like this was the first time I had a near death experience in the arena. Heck, this isn't even the first time I've _had _a near death experience, but I'm getting off topic. He could have easily helped me when those dogs had just attacked me, he could've sent bandages. He could have given us water when my group and I were dying of thirst. He could have given us food when we were running out. He could have given me PADS. Why did he wait until now? Did we really have that little sponsors?

I decide to leave it at that, shrug, and keep on walking. I continue until sunlight streaks the forest sky, so I climb into a tree, make a nest and go to sleep.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

The anthem startles me awake, and I look at the sky. No deaths. I have a feeling that someone will die tonight, since the audience will be thirsting for blood, unless me almost dying from that stupid snake last night was enough for them. Wait… no, I'm getting confused. The audience was not sleeping when I was, which means they've been up for at least 12 hours waiting for someone to die. So unless there was an epic fight this morning or afternoon, someone is going to die. And since I'm probably the only one awake in the arena, that might mean it'll be me.

I drop out of the tree and stretch. I'm about to reach into my pack and grab something to eat when I realize I don't have a pack. I have nothing to eat. Great.

I start scoping the forest for some sort of stream or some food. I don't recognize anything that could be edible, except for the poisonous stuff. Ugh. I bet while I was sleeping they planted all of these crappy plants just to mess with me.

Trying to make myself feel like I'm not TOTALLY hopeless, I take off my now soaked pad and throw it off into some bushes. Then, I grab some moss and use that as a pad. It's actually kind of better than an actual panty liner. Disgusting, yes, but surprisingly soft.

Now that _that's _been taken care of, I start walking around to look for some food. No animals, no water, no un-crappy plants… ugh! Just kill all the other guys and let me go home, would ya?

I scope around some more, and I finally find some bird. I throw my knife at it, and it must have been pretty stupid or something, because it didn't even duck. Whatever. I then realize that I have no idea how to make a fire, since Luiz was always the one who started them, so to my frustration I realize I have to eat it raw. I mean, I _could _try doing that twig twisting thing between my hands, but I'd probably just give myself blisters, and if I did start one I'd probably just burn down the jungle or something.

I pluck off the feathers, and then I bite into it. Eew… this is really disgusting. I mean, I've eaten my fair share of raw animals when I was starving to death or something, but THIS is just plain nasty. It's all bitter and squishy and warm… not like cooked warm, more like when you lick your arm or something. This is really gross… I take another bite. Ugh… another… really nasty… two more. It keeps going on like that, me thinking how gross this is and then me biting into it some more. Once I'm done, all I'm left with are some feathers, bones and a bitter taste in my mouth.

Even though I'm afraid I might puke again, my stomach is full, and I keep going, trying to ignore the dryness of my tongue. After about an hour, I start to get more cramps, and I feel very tired. I wish Hermes could send me some sort of medicine that makes my period go away, but, although the Capitol may do wonders with medicine, I have a feeling that that's not possible without a surgery, at LEAST.

I try to ignore it, and keep treading for fifteen whole minutes, and then I simply feel too awful to keep going. I stop and hold my lower stomach, trying to use pressure to make the pain go away. It's like a tugging sensation, a very painful tug, yet at the same time it's sharp and inward, too. I hug harder, and it helps slightly, but when I let go it comes back all the same. I feel so miserable I could cry, but everyone's watching and that's probably not going to help me get more sponsors, now, is it?

I keep going for another hour, and I faintly see a light. Curious, I grab my knife and slowly walk toward the light. Once I'm ten yards away, I'm almost sure it's a person, so I climb up a tree and silently glide through the branches to see who is there.

I peak through the branches, and take off my glasses since it is bright enough with the fire this person has started.

It's my district partner, Abu Currey.

I tense up, but tell myself to relax, because he saved me during the feast, so even if he sees me now, he probably won't hurt me, he'd probably just tell me to get out of here or something. I relief that I know I'm safe, although just for a little while, fills me with such happiness I want to jump up and clap my hands, but I know better.

I watch Abu as he takes out things from his pack. Food. Lots of it. Bandages. Water… it makes me thirsty just look at the jug. Knives, some sort of jell in a plastic tube. How did he get that? It was probably just in the backpack from the feast. Nothing to worry about. He takes out… a spiel? Huh? Would that have been in the backpack, too? Some bowls… he opens them up, and there's steaming food in it. There's even a fork and knife in his pack. How on earth did he get all of those things?

Then he moves his pack, and I can see clearly what remains in it.

Parachutes.

And lots of them.

I put my hand over my mouth to hold in a gasp. I can't believe it… I've been here in this arena, for who the hell knows how long, literally on the verge of death every single day… while HE has been getting all sorts of goodies from our mentor. I know it's not his fault, not at all, and my rage is directed at Hermes. How _dare he? _While I'VE been dying of thirst, he sends Abu a spiel and probably that huge jug of water. While I'VE been eating raw birds, he sends Abu three bowls of steaming Capitol goods. While I'VE been bleeding to death, he sends Abu bandages. I'm so angry at Hermes tears start to stream down my face. It's such a rage I can feel it in my core, welled up deep inside of me while I do all I can to keep it in, and not let it take control of me. I feel so betrayed I seriously am thinking about if I win this game, I am seriously going to kill Hermes.

_I hate him._

That's all I can think of how to put my anger into words. _I hate him. _I hate him more than I hate my stupid prep team and stupid green haired Bonita. I hate him more than I hate stupid Remus Flickerman. I hate him more than I hate those damned Gamemakers, and I even hate him more than I hate President Cable.

Sure, President Cable may have started these games, and the Gamemakers may have created this arena. My prep team may have ripped off my hair and glossed me down, and Bonita may have trained me like a dog while Remus made me perform the tricks, but it was Hermes's job to help me. He was the only one who can do ANYTHING that could mean the difference between my life and death. No one, not Mother, or Mr. Turner, or Penny or Friday or little Willow, _no one else can help me. _And he's failed me, turned his back on me. I hate him. I hate him. I wish the Gamemakers could send him in so I could torture and kill him in all sorts of illegal ways. The audience would love that; tribute killing their mentor.

I know I would.

I stare with rage while I watch Abu eat some sort of pork out of the bowl. Then, in another tree, I see something move, almost silently. Abu must not notice, either thinking it is either just some animal or he just doesn't hear it. I keep my eye on the tree, and I see something drop down. It makes a _thud, _and Abu hears it, too, because he jumps up, grabs his knife and looks around. He does so for about a minute, when he shrugs and goes back to eating his food. My heart is beating, and I'm at the edge of my seat. The audience must feel like this everyday, wondering what the moondrop will happen next.

I'm shaking as I watch a figure silently come out of the shadows, holding up an ax. An ax… I suddenly know exactly who it is.

I open my mouth to call out, to help Abu like he helped me, but no words come out. I'm left paralyzed as I watch Jay swing the ax and cut off Abu's head.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

The canon fires while his blood splatters everywhere, and his head rolls around on the ground like a ball. I'm so shocked at what just happened that I can't move, not at all, and I just sit there, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. I don't call out or attack Jay or anything. I just watch her move his head and go through his things. She takes everything, and then just leaves, like she didn't do anything. Then the hovercraft comes, picking up his body and his head, and then they leave, too. I just sit there, like the shock froze my nerves, making it impossible for me to move. I think I just stay like that for 3 whole minutes. I'm not even sure I blink. And once it releases its grip on me, I start to scream.

It's not a scared scream or an angry scream; it's a hollow, inhuman scream. So loud it hurts my vocal cords. I jump down from the tree, still yelling, and I do what I do best.

I run away.

Branches hit my face, making me bleed. I trip on roots, skinning my knees. But I run and run and run. I don't even care that someone might hear me. I just keep going until I finally get out of that gigantic jungle and fall into the grass. I get a face full of mud, but I just lay there for a minute. Then, I get up, wipe away the blood and mud from my face, and I suddenly get the overwhelming urge to sing.

I scan my mind for a song that I wish to sing… no lullabies, no dancing songs. I need something that fits my mood, and I think of the one about the insane woman singing to her dead loved one. I clear my throat, and then I start. It's not loud and frightened like it was when I was distracting Ares. It's not hoarse and shaky like it was when I sang after Nettle died. It's not even like my usual voice when I sing, which is only okay. No, something makes me follow the directions my mom told me when I want to sing well: don't use your throat, use your diaphragm mussel. I do so, and it comes out clear, simple and a bit on the high side. Not like how you'd think a princess would sing, no, not at all. I sound like a demon. In my unearthly voice, I sing out the lyrics:

_Give me a reason to believe that you're gone_

_ I see your shadow so I know_

_ They're all wrong_

_ Moonlight on the soft brown earth…_

_ It leads me to where you lay…_

_ They took you away from me…_

_ BUT NOW I'M TAKING YOU HOME…_

_ I will stay forever here with you_

_ My love_

_ The softly spoken words you gave me_

_ Even in death our love goes on…_

_ Some say I'm crazy for my love_

_ Oh my love_

_ But no bonds can hold me from your side_

_ Oh my love_

_ They don't know you can't leave me…_

_ THEY DON'T HEAR YOU SINGING TO ME…_

_ I will stay forever here with you_

_ My love_

_ The softly spoken words you gave me_

_ Even in death our love goes on…_

_ And I can't love you…_

_ Anymore than I do…_

_ Oh-oh…_

Then a huge urge to laugh wells up inside me until I can no longer contain it, so I start laughing hysterically, so hard tears come to my eyes, and I do so for at least two minutes. Then, I quickly draw in a breath, for I have forgotten to finish the song. I take a deep breath, and I finish it with the same clear, demon-like voice.

_I will stay forever here with you_

_ My love_

_ The softly spoken words you gave me_

_ Even in death our love goes on…_

_ And I can't love you…_

_ Anymore than I do…_

_ Oh-oh…_

The song is over except for one line, which is spoken.

"People die," I say. "But real love is _forever."_

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

Apparently, Jay did not hear Velveteen, or me either, because I fell asleep. I wake up, and it's dawn, so I decide to go on walking for a little while and then go back to bed. I pull up my glasses to my forehead, change my… moss… and then go into the grassland. I go for about an hour, when I come to another, smaller jungle with a lake. I find some bird eggs, eat them raw and then drink some of the water. Sure, without my iodine it won't be perfect, but the lake looks clear enough so I probably won't die from it. Maybe some diarrhea at the most. Which doesn't seem so bad after all of this.

I look for a good tree to make a nest and go to sleep in when I hear twigs breaking. Lots of them, and tons of rustling, too. I know only one person in this entire arena who could make such noises.

Out of the shadows, Velveteen walks over to me.

"Well, well, well," she smiles. "If it isn't District 11. How'd you survive this far, huh, sweetie?"

I glare at her. "First of all," I say. "My name is Ponyo, not District 11, and that information including my survival is none of your business."

"Right…" she says. "Like it even matters if I know your name or not."

"It does," I say, gripping my knife. "Besides, I know yours. You're Velveteen. From District One."

She looks surprised, but recovers.

"Well, whatever," she spits. "I'm gonna kill you anyway, so it doesn't even matter…"

While she talks, I notice something. A noise. A strange one, to be in fact.

"What's that noise?" I ask myself out loud.

"There's no noise," she says. "Don't try to distract me!"

But she stops, and listens, too.

"Wait… yea, there is a noise," Velveteen says. "But it doesn't matter…"

It gets louder, and out of the trees, surrounding us with chirps and whistles. We look around… and come face to face with thousands of beady eyed, fork tongue flicking…

Four inch long green lizards.

Velveteen and I actually start laughing, as we were really afraid for a second. We probably just stepped into their mating ground or something. We shake our heads as our laughter starts to die down, trying to focus on killing one another, when Velveteen suddenly looks confused and says, "What's that one doing?"

She points to one, and I look. Its mouth is open, and coming out of it is some type of smoke. Not like candle smoke, which is light gray, but more like a forest fire, dark and strong.

Frightened, we both stand behind each others backs and hold out our weapons; ready to fight for anything they throw at us. I imagine that those lizards can grow and turn into evil monsters, ready to shred us to pieces…

In fact, I'm so tuned onto that theory that I don't expect it at all when that lizard spits a gigantic fireball at us.

Velveteen and I shriek and dodge it. It splatters against a tree, and it bursts into flames. The fireball was about the size of a small melon, and Velveteen sees this as well and screams, "Get out of here!"

We start running, but they've surrounded us, and two more spit fireballs at us. We dodge them without ease, and they keep sending them. The air is filled will smoke, making it feel like my lungs have been set ablaze. I start stabbing the lizards, and Velveteen follows suit, but with the heavy smoke it's much too hard. There are so many… its impossible to dodge the balls while stabbing the lizards. One hits my calf and I screech, frightening Velveteen. The lizards single down on her and start shooting the fireballs all at once at her. She drops her knife and frantically tries to stop the fire, but it does little to help her. Her clothes catch on fire, as well as her hair, and I watch her skin turn black from the flames. Her faces masks pure terror and pain, and she screams a shrill, terrible cry. Her eyes are huge, and I'm afraid they'll pop out. I want to run away but somehow that disgusting picture has kept me glued to my seat. She starts shaking and finally she falls down while her canon fires. Once she falls, her body seems to explode, and the fire spreads, and only then do I realize I need to run.

I start running, but with the fire behind me and the lizards chasing after me in the trees there is no way I can be fast enough. They continue to spew fireballs, and they hit me in my calves and set fire to my cloak. The whole thing goes ablaze and I scream and rip it off of me. Doing so, the lizards aim for my head, which catches fire to my hair and eyebrows. It hurts so much, and the plastic clip in my hair and my glasses go red-hot and starts melting. Terrified, I grab them and throw them away, blistering my fingers. Even during that quick motion the lizards spot my weakness, and they aim for my torso. I wave my hands to stop the fire while I cough. Not a little cough you get from a cold, but one so large it shakes my whole body. My eyes water from the smoke, and then I suddenly remember the lake.

I sprint towards it while they keep firing. My body is extremely hot and I'm losing most of my hair. My skin feels like it's melting, yet I keep going. There! The lake is right in from of me, and I run full speed and jump in while the flames take over to whole jungle.

The strange coolness from the water shoot icicles into my burning flesh, bringing relief with each shot. The fire instantly goes away, and I relax and stay there for a little while. Then, I start to sink.

Panicked, I doggy paddle my way up to the surface and take a breath. But that breath is full of smoke, bitter acid, and I instantly go back under once the lizards start firing at me.

I look up at the surface and watch the fireballs hit it, suddenly dying once they touch the watery surface. After a minute, my lungs crave air, and I go back up, even though I know I won't get any up there. More smoke, and I dive back down, trying to think of a plan.

I can't stay down here, because I can't swim so I'll just sink and die. I can't go up there, either, because I'll turn into a human torch. Of course… this jungle is much smaller than those other ones, if I run quick enough, maybe I can escape. Of course, the grass has probably caught fire already… what who knows? I'm in the final two, so maybe I'll get lucky.

I get out of the water and start running. Everything is on fire, and the lizards seem to be the only things still alive. They shoot at me, but I've had a head start. They start to chase me through the burning trees, but I keep going. I get burnt very badly along the way, but I make it out of here.

I was incorrect; the fire has spread to the grassland too. Moondrop! I had almost made it!

I try to go through the fire, but I get burned a lot. The lizards have stopped chasing me, though, as it seems they can only move through trees. Still firing, however, and I run right through the fire. Once I'm yards away, they cannot reach me, making the fire go slightly slower. This gives me more of a chance to survive, and I run even more. Until I'm a hundred yards away, the fire is only a few sparks where I am, while in front of me, everything is on fire. The sky is black with smoke, but it's way up in the sky, giving me more oxygen to breathe. Suddenly, my stomach lurches and I puke up the chemicals that entered my stomach.

After that, I get dizzy, but keep running away. I run for an hour, and then I reach a small stream. The fire is so far away now, and I'm safe. So I take a good look at myself in the stream, and when I do, I burst out crying.

My hair is completely black now, feeling rough and somewhat ashy. I didn't know hair could feel like that. It's extremely short, now, so short it makes me look sort of like a guy. I have a few bald spots, too.

My skin is the worst, though. The left side of my neck is completely black, and my face is so burnt it looks like gray coal. Tears stream down my face, and I touch my eyebrows. They're gone. I look closely at my eyes, and I see that my eyelashes are gone, too. My beautiful eyelashes. The first thing Penny had ever complimented me on.

I touch my left arm, and it feels like paper. I grab the skin, which peels right off. I scream at that and start crying even harder. Once I stop, I look back down at my arm, and its reddish pink. I touch it, and it burns when I do. Then, a silver parachute falls right in front of me. Angered, I'm ready to grab whatever it is and throw it a thousand yards away. I have too much dignity to use whatever Hermes has sent me just because my more amazing district partner is dead. But when I see it, I realize I should actually use it. It is burn medicine. I would be a moron to throw this away.

I grab the little tube and twist off the cap. Then, I squeeze out the paste. It's white, and I rub it onto my arm. The pain instantly goes away, and I sigh with relief. I peel off more of the burnt skin on my other body parts and then rub the paste onto them. My body starts to feel cooler, like this jell is sucking the heat from the fire right out of my flesh. Sure, its probably not going to completely heal the burns, because I probably have some 3rd or 4th degree burns here, but it's definitely going to help.

And with my being in the final two and all, I'm going to need all the help I can get.


	24. Chapter 24

_forget whatever I said before about being pissed off about other stories that take place during the 1st hunger games. they remind me to update!_

_anyway, my hungerlings, this story is starting to come to an end.  
_

_ENJOY!  
_

Chapter Twenty-Four

Velveteen's face shows on the sky. Once the anthem is over, the seal takes its place, and then it flickers away. I drink some water from the stream and then crawl into the grass. My stomach growls while I shiver, so I grab some grass and start chewing on it. It's so cold; I didn't realize how warm my cloak had kept me until now. My period has stopped, too, for natural reasons or because of the fire, I have no idea.

I swallow my grass. It's not the healthiest food in the world, but, hey, it'll do. I think…

I look up at the stars and make pictures with them. Luiz dying from blood loss, Nettle and Ares, the fire, the snakes, every single one of them…

I start to count the stars to make myself go to sleep.

One…

Two…

Three…

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

I wake up at dawn. My stomach growls, so I grab a handful of grass and eat it. I decide to follow the river so I won't run out of water. The Gamemakers must be trying to draw Jay and me together so one of can kill the other, but honestly I don't think that will be a problem since I have a feeling Jay isn't exactly mentally stable.

But, before I go, I take my somewhat melted knife and write in the dirt near the stream. A message to Jay, and the rest of Panem:

YOU CAN'T KILL ME

Once I've made my message clear, I walk to the left near the stream. I walk for at least two hours when I come to a large, deep lake. I sit down and pull my knees up to my chest, feeling alone. I wish I felt as confident as I was when I wrote that message. No, instead, here I am, crouching down like little Willow, scared out of my mind that I'm not going to make it out of this arena alive. Jay is bigger than me, older than me, and a heck of a lot more murderous than me. What am I going to do? Has my luck finally run out?

A half an hour passes by and there's still no sign of Jay. Still scared, but angry too, I yell out to the sky, "YOU WITCH. _I'M NOT SCARED. _COME ON OUT AND FACE ME!"

Then, I hear chirping. Not like a few birds, but thousands. I fear that it may be the lizards, but I remember that they can't move around without trees, and there's not a tree for miles. A see in the sky a blob of green, and I get up and prepare myself for the worst. It gets closer and closer, and along with the chirping, I hear screams, too. Once they're close enough I see that they've got Jay in their claws, and she's screaming. Once they see me, they release her and she falls to the ground with a plop. For a second I think that this might have killed her, so I won't have to do it myself, but this hope vanishes when I see her get up.

She shakes her head, picks up her ax and then her blue eyes lock onto me with fierceness, like a blue flame. I grab my knife, and get ready to dodge as Jay lunges for me.

I get away just in time before her ax enters my skull. I take a swing at her with my knife, but she's quicker than me. Probably why she's made it this far. She swings at me again, and I duck and during that motion I punch her in the gut. The wind knocked out of her, she drops her ax and stumbles back, and I take a chance and kick her in the face, which pushes her onto the ground.

I get ready to stab in the heart, but she recovers quickly and is back on her feet again. Since I seem to work best when I'm running, I sprint away from her and she chases me. Then, I stop instantly, forcing her to stop, too, and then I catch her by surprise and jump on her. I then grab her head and start banging it against the ground, hard, but she spits in my eye. It stings, and it closes involuntarily, and then Jay grabs my arm and bites it so hard it takes a chunk right out of my burnt flesh.

I scream and Jay pushes me off of her and then grabs her ax. I grab my knife just in time to deflect her swing, but she swings again, breaking the grip part and badly cutting my palm and fingers. Then, she grabs the blade and throws it into the lake. Now I have no weapon.

Jay takes another swing at me. I dodge it, and I have to think of a way to get that ax away from her so we can be even. But I can't think of anything. Anger enters me, which gives Jay enough time for her to take a swing at my arm.

It almost cuts it off, but I moved away just in time. The cut is right to the bone, not as bad as Luiz's, but still very bad. Sheering pain goes up my arm like needles, and a scream escapes me. I start to run away, by instinct, not fear, even though there's nowhere I can run or hide. Jay chases after me, and throws her ax at me. It hits me in the shoulder, and to my horror it sticks there. I fall to the ground, but I know I can't give up. I've made it too far for me to be killed by some mentally disturbed 14-year-old. So I gather all of my strength and pull the ax out of me, bringing more pain. I try to ignore it, and then I charge at Jay. Seeing that I have the ax, fear enters her, and she retreats. I throw the ax at her, and thanks to the fact that a I have really good throwing arm even when its about to fall off, it hits her in the shoulder as well. She stumbles down, and I run to her. Taking out the ax, I swing at her again, aiming for her head, but she rolls away so instead I cut off her arm. She screams with pain, which distracts me as she kicks me in a place most girls don't want to be kicked. I fall back, and she uses her living hand to grab the ax and swing at me. I must have cut off her dominant hand, because her swings are not as powerful and are more random.

I dodge her swings some more, and I come up with an idea. Instead of attacking, I can dodge, which will eventually tire her out. Once she's tired enough and has lost enough blood, I can then attack, get the ax and end these games once and for all.

I dodge to attacks, which, as planned, tire her out. I notice that the once golden grass is now sticky and crimson with her blood. I remember my dream, and how the snow was like that, too…

Those thoughts distract me, giving her enough time to swing at my stomach.

It cuts open, and blood spills out. I instantly put my hand over the rip to stop the flow, and I feel something warm and gushy fall into my palm. To my horror, I realize it must be my intestines. I feel so sick that I think I might throw up all over Jay.

She swings at me again, and luckily, I dodge it. She's getting weaker, but so am I. With me trying to keep my guts from spilling everywhere, I'm going to have a hard time killing this girl.

Another swing, but this time, still holding my stomach, I gather up my strength and kick her in the chest. She stumbles and drops her ax. I kick her again, and then grab the ax with my good hand. As she tries to stumble away, I cut off her other arm. The hand covering my stomach is shaking, warm and sticky with blood. We are near the lake again, so the water is crimson, which means I've lost a lot, and I think I feel faint… but I try to shake that feeling away. As Jay tries to stay up, I use to the butt of the ax and slam it right in her temple. Her eyes roll back into her sockets, and she falls to the ground while her canon fires.

I drop the ax and let myself relax. The loss of so much blood is making me dizzy… and I stumble backward as I hear the trumpets. I hear a crowd roaring from my victory, but that doesn't matter… I fall back into the red water, making the crowd sound so far away…

I look up at the surface, and I think I see a hovercraft coming to pick me up… I gasp as I finally realize that I am safe and I have won the games. Water enters my lungs, making everything turn darker.

_"Ladies and gentlemen!" _I faintly hear the announcer say. _"May I introduce the first ever victor of the Hunger Games… Ponyo Yomato of District 11!"_

Then everything goes back as I feel myself being carried up by the metal claw from the hovercraft.


	25. Chapter 25

_WOO HOO YEYEYEYEYEYEYEY PONYO WON THE HUNGER GAMES! YIPPEE! WHO WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT?_

_like i said before, every hunger games fan who's ever lived  
_

_the story is coming to an end, my friends. i hope you enjoy  
_

Chapter Twenty-Five

I try to open my eyes, but it feels as though there are weights keeping them down. I manage to open them, and a blinding white light burns them. I squint, and the sit up. It hurts, but not in an I-almost-died way, more of a stiff, achy way. I look around; I am in a white room, an operating room, I think, and am on some sort of operating chair. There's a small table next to me, with a bowl and spoon on it. I reach over, and see that it is white rice. Still warm. I gulp it down hungrily, but I can't help but feel disappointed. This is my first meal out of the arena, shouldn't I have something more wonderful? But once I've finished, I realize that I'm full. My stomach must have shrunk. Which is weird, since I've probably only been out a few hours… right?

Someone walks in, and I instantly tense up. He tells me that it has been three days (holy moondrop), and I'm going to meet up with Bonita, Hermes and Penny now. He gestures to clothes on a chair, which is next to a mirror, and tells me to get dressed. I look down, and realize that I'm only wearing a paper robe. I nod carefully, and he exits the room for me to dress. I go to the mirror, first, waiting to see the hideous monster, but instead, I just see me.

Sure, I'm a bit skinnier than before, but I look exactly the way I did before the arena. I skin is soft and clear; there are no burns or scars at all, not even the ones I've had before the arena. My nails are polished and even, and my eyelashes and eyebrows are back. I touch them, and they're real. The weirdest thing is my hair; it's back in the same bob I had before it was burnt. I touch it, and it's not fake either. It is straight, soft, and very real.

I put on my clothes, and realize they are the same ones from the arena, only without the gloves. That may have seemed fine to them, but for me, it's a little insulting.

I go out of the room and tell him that I'm ready. He says okay, and he takes me to a pleasant little room where Bonita, Penny and Hermes sit. _Hermes. _I tell the man he can go, and he leaves and shuts the door.

I stand there, my face completely blank, and they all just sit there politely.

"Ponyo!" Penny finally says. "It's so great to finally see you again! I just knew you would win."

I keep standing there, and I notice a lamp sitting on a table near the couch they all sit on. I walk over to them, and they smile even more. Then, I turn and unplug the lamp. After, I grab it, turn around and swing it at Hermes, knocking into his head. The lamp shatters as he falls to the ground.

_"HOW DARE YOU!" _I scream at him. _"HOW DARE YOU ABANDON ME? YOU LEFT ME ALONE! I ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF __YOU!__"_

Bonita gets up and grabs my arm, and says, "No, Ponyo! Remember, he sent you the medicines? Those saved your life! He never abandoned you!"

_"YES HE DID!" _I scream. _"HE ONLY SENT ME THOSE THINGS BECAUSE I WAS LITTERALLY ABOUT TO DIE… __AND__ BECAUSE ABU WAS DEAD! __**HE ABANONDONED ME!"**_

"Calm down, Ponyo!" Penny comes up to me and says. "He only sent you those things because he knew you could cope! Right, Hermes?"

Hermes nods, still stunned. Penny sounds so calm, and part of me tells me to listen to her, but another large, a larger, more powerful part of me reminds me of what I saw in Abu's backpack.

_"NO HE DIDN'T!" _I yell so hard tears stream down my face. _"I SAW ABU'S BACKPACK! __**I SAW**__**!**__ THERE WERE TONS OF PARACHUTES… HE WAS BIGGER THAN ME, TOO! ARE YOU SAYING HE COULDN'T COPE, HUH, PENNY?"_

Penny looks at me, shocked at how much I have changed.

"While _I _was eating raw birds and eggs," I lower my voice a little, but it still contains the same amount of anger. "_You _sent him fancy meats and spices from the Capitol! While _I_ was dying of thirst, _you _sent him water! _YOU LEFT ME TO DIE!"_

"Okay!" Penny gives in, but I can tell she's pretending. "He did abandon you! But he's sorry! See?"

She gestures to Hermes. "You're sorry," she says. "Right?"

He nods.

"See?" she asks me. "How can you be mad at a man who is sorry?"

I glare down at him.

"You mean it?" I ask him.

"Yes," he finally says.

"Yes" doesn't cut it. I ask more from him, "Yes what?"

"Yes… ma'am."

"Ma'am". No one calls me "ma'am". He can't be forgiven, that's for sure, but I'll pretend to just to humor them.

"Fine," I spit. "Whatever."

"Okay!" Bonita says, smiling. "Now that everything is good and happy, you need to get dressed and finally be crowned victor!"

I give her a look. "I thought I already was," I say.

"You'll _literally _be crowned," Penny explains.

"Cute," I roll my eyes.

Penny takes me to meet up with my Prep Team so I can be dressed. They are so excited to see me, maybe even more so than Bonita and Hermes and Penny were when they first saw me. I don't hit them with lamps or anything, but I do act sullen. Well, that's probably because I _am _sullen. I am so sick and tired of these stupid games. I wish they could just give me the crown and then let me go home. But, no, while the fighting has stopped, the games must continue.

As they dress me and do my hair and nails, they talk about the games, and how exciting they were. They talk about the parts that were the scariest, most thrilling or the most touching. They talk about how they nearly had a heart attack when I caught on fire or when those dogs attacked me, and they talk about how funny Luiz was or how cute Clare was. They talk about how scared they were when Nettle and her group got attacked by Districts One and Two, and how wonderful I sounded when I sand after Abu died. Them talking about it so casually makes me feel so sad it's all I can do not to start crying.

After I am dressed, Penny pulls the mirror in front of me and I see myself. My hair is pulled up into a bun, with a hair band of flowers and some bobby pins disguised as flowers hold up some loose stands. I wear a strapless golden ball down, with little designs here and there and it being loose from the waist down. I have a pearl necklace and my makeup isn't as heavy as it was during the interview. Instead of making me look dark and sinister, I look like I'm glowing. It doesn't fit who I am at all.

"You like?" Penny asks,

"Yes," I lie. "It's… wonderful."

"Great," she smiles. "Now, lets get going."

We walk to the stage, and go underneath it. In a small room, there is a platform where I will be lifted up to greet the crowd. My Prep Team will go first, then Penny, then Bonita and then Hermes. I go last, because, after all, I am the Victor.

I hear Remus Flickerman announce everyone. My Prep Team gets enormous applause, and Penny gets an even larger amount. Everyone loved my costumes. Bonita gets a respectable amount, because she really didn't do anything expect draw my card. Hermes gets enormous applause. If only they knew he did almost as little as Bonita.

Remus calls my name, and I feel myself rise up. I get thunderous applause, but I don't smile or wave like I imagine the others did. Instead, I look blankly at the crowd. Why should I have to pretend I don't hate their guts now? I'm safe forever, and if the Capitol hates me, well, I could care less.

Remus smiles and shakes my hand, but I just glare at him. His smile falters, but only a little.

Then, the dreaded President Cable walks up to me, holding my crown on a fancy velvet pillow. Handing Remus the pillow, he takes the crown and then places it on my head. He smiles happily, and shakes my hand as the crowd screams.

_Don't you realize how much I hate you? _I think while shaking his hand and glaring at him sullenly. _You killed my father. You killed my friends. You made me kill others. What did this prove? How could you be so cruel? You could have taxed us more, put cameras in our houses, taken away even more of our food, but why did you have to do this? And why continue? Are you really that big of a control freak? Are you really that cruel? You know, people would probably love you and respect you and not have started an uprising if you weren't so evil._

Afterward, I take a seat in the Victor's chair, and they play a documentary of the Hunger Games. They make it a survival, against-all-odds story. It shows the Reaping, the chariot ride and interviews. There's a happy-happy-joy-joy song playing in the background, which angers me since most of these people have been killed. Then there are the Games. The bloodbath, the dogs, Nettle's group being attacked by Two and One. It was terrible experiencing the Games, but watching it is ten times worse. I watch Clare die again. I watch Luiz die again. I watch Eucalyptus die for the first time. Apparently, Jay killed him. How awful. Killed by your own district partner.

They show the feast, and a little bit of that lethal battle between Abu and Ares. But it mostly shows Nettle and I. Tears sting my eyes as I watch. Once they show me singing after Abu's death, I can't take it anymore and just burry my hand in my palms.

But I don't cry.

It takes three hours for the whole documentary, and then I am whisked away to the Victor Banquet at the President's mansion. I barely have anytime to eat, since people keep yanking my arm over to them so they can have a picture with me. I paste on a smile for everyone, just to humor them, but I don't think they can imagine how much hurt I feel inside. I even have a picture with little Coriolanus, who doesn't seem to like taking the picture anymore than I do. In fact, he's so sullen that I start to actually like him. While I'm raiding the cupcake platter, I start talking to him.

"So," I say. "How are things?"

"I hate parties," he crosses his arms.

"Yea, I'm kind of tired, too," I say. I know he really doesn't mean that. Every little kid likes parties.

"I'm not tired," he glares. "I hate parties."

"Ok," I roll my eyes. I can't help but ask. "Did you like the Games?"

An evil little smile crosses his face.

"I loved dem," he says. "They were funny."

I don't conceal the horror on my face.

"An' one day," he says. "I'm gonna host dem myself. I'm gonna be president. An' I'll make dem even funnier."

Another person asks me to have a picture, and this time, I'm happy too.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

The next day, it's time for _another _interview with Remus. Great. Penny dresses me in a girlish ruby red dress, and I will go to the indoor TV studio, where I will have a nice little chat with Mr. Remus Flickerman.

When I get there, there are cameras surrounding a pleasant little space with some white cushioned chairs, some potted plants, a cute little coffee table and a white rug. Remus comes up to me, and smiles.

"Congratulations, Ponyo!" he says. "How are you?"

"Nervous, I guess," I try to remain as pleasant as possible.

"Oh, don't worry," he says. "It'll go fine."

Fine… yea, right.

We get the signal that its time, so Remus takes a seat on one of the chairs, and so do I. I notice Hermes standing by the cameraman that yells, "Action!" and suddenly I'm on live TV.

Remus starts talking to me, trying to make me feel as comfortable as possible, but the only responses I give are a few mumbles or yeses and nos. Remus makes a joke that I'm starting to sound like my late district partner, Abu, but I don't laugh. Instead, I glare at him and sigh. Remus starts to get an uneasy look on his face, but shakes his head and smiles again and keeps talking. I have my elbow propped up on the armrest of the chair, with my head leaning against my palm, and I don't hold back on what I feel inside. I feel sullen, angry, impatient, tired. So I don't hold back on the eye rolling, sighing, and "whatever's". Finally, Remus gently asks me if I'm okay.

_"I'M JUST TIRED, OKAY?" _I snap.

"Oh…" he says, drawing back. "Well, we all are after that late night party."

I groan and roll my eyes. "You just _don't get it."_

"What?" he asks, not angrily, but concerned. "I don't get what? Are you sure your fine?"

"NO!" I yell at him. "I guess I'm not! You want to know how I am, Remus?" I then scream: _"I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL OF THIS!"_

Hermes motions to stop, and the interview ends after Remus says goodbye to the audience. Must have wanted to stop before I assaulted Remus with a lamp on live TV or something. Once the cameras aren't rolling, I get up and stomp away, everyone else giving me looks.

I'm tired of this. I'm tired of the Games. I hate the fact that I need to celebrate them, that I have to celebrate my dead friends and my victims. How dare they? And how dare they act like I'm being totally unreasonable for the way I'm acting? I KILLED THREE PEOPLE! I WATCHED MY FRIENDS DIE! I have every right to act like this! But no, everyone keeps staring at me, totally shocked. I feel like a teacher had just said, "stand up if you…" whatever, and I'm the only one who's standing up. And everyone else is the students, who are staring at me, looking at me like, "What's wrong with her?" since I'm the only one standing. Well, have you ever thought that maybe there's something wrong with _you? _How can you just act like 23 murders is nothing, that 23 _children's _murders is nothing?

I've never felt so alone.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

The next day, I finally get to go home.

On the train, everyone basically ignores me. They still stare, though, but at a distance. Like my grief is some sort of contagious sickness with disgusting results. But really, that's perfectly fine with me.

I've been eating a lot, too. I think I've gained 2 pounds since I came onto the train. I remind myself that when I get home, I'll be able to eat like this everyday. I'm so filthy rich right now, and Willow and Mother are probably moving into some place called "Victors Village" right now. I also make myself promise that instead of keeping the money to myself, I'll give it away to help others. If work is becoming short, I'll give them money so they won't starve. I'll buy nice clothes for people. I'll buy them good, healthy food. I'll be able to help people, and I won't have to kill them later, either, like I did in the arena.

I haven't been sleeping well, though. Either I'm tossing and turning because the darkness scares me, or I'm suffering from nightmares, a peaceful slumber won't come. It's now become the thing I want to the most, right after seeing my family again, but even with all this money, I can't buy it.

I wonder if it will ever come.

The first person that talks to me is Bonita, but that's just telling me that we're here.

I exit the train. For the first time, I'm not covered in makeup or jewels or blood. I'm just wearing a plain old tee shirt, pants and shoes. I go to the stage and walk onto it, and the crowd goes nuts. But it isn't just some crowd, they're my people. My home.

"Thank you!" I call out. At the front, I see Mother, little Willow, Friday and Mr. Turner. They're all grinning from ear to ear.

"Thank you!" I call out again. "Really, thank you! I love you all!"

It's so great to be home again, even if it isn't much. Finally, the Games are over, at least, for now. But that's fine by me. To tell you the truth, I need a little break. And now that I finally have one, I find myself grinning from ear to ear.

And unlike the others, this smile is real.

THE END

_awww... happy ending!_

_kinda  
_

_well, now that this story has wrapped up to an end... tell me, what did you think? did you love it? did you hate it? what can i do to improve my writing skills? give me feedback, please! i'm think about writing a sequal, so i need to know how i can improve, but i'm honestly not sure if i will post it onto fanfiction or not if i do end up creating it. i'll see.  
_

_also, i just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful reviews and private messages you sent me! it seriously means a lot. i mean, seriously.  
_

_Luv Ya!  
_

_-Yaya The Elf  
_


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